A Question of Want
by JLynnB
Summary: Blood Ties and Twilight x-over. Can Vicki and Henry stop a demon from destroying the Cullen's idyllic world?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: This takes place after Breaking Dawn and Blood Lines, respectively. I've attempted to keep to the sentiments of both series but as the styles are quite different I can only say that I've done my best.

The Chapters are short, changing with each break in style except for the first two.

Twilight begins in Chapter Three.

I hope you enjoy.

XxX

"Damn it Henry, quit being Prince of Darkness and give me a hand." Vicki Nelson, private detective, knelt by a pile of ashes which had been two minutes earlier the prime suspect in the death of her client. Unlike crematory ashes there were no traces of bone. "Guy cooked himself right thorough." She stood, unconsciously giving her hands a wipe even though she hadn't touched the ashes. "Any ideas, Sherlock?"

Henry Fitzroy turned towards her, the bottom of his open black leather trench coat coiled around his calves. "Sherlock?" he said, red-gold eyebrow raised. "I thought I was Dr. Watson?"

"I don't care if you're Dr. Demento at this point. You're the supernatural expert. How'd the guy immolate himself like this?"

"Hard to say. Maybe some of the fireball he launched at us caught his clothing," Henry shrugged.

Vicki grunted. It sounded reasonable; the fire had managed to turn the furnace pipe into molten slag in mere seconds. If Henry hadn't moved her away in time….

"Of course," Henry continued, "It could be that the manifestation of fire literally burnt up the energy used to keep up his mortal form." He shrugged again. "Demonology is more a hobby than a calling."

Vicki walked cautiously towards the exit of the boiler room. In an instant, Henry was at her side, lightly putting his arm through hers in order to guide her through the semi-darkness. Semi-darkness. To Vicki there was no such thing. Retinitis pigmentosa had robbed her of twenty-five percent of her peripheral and all of her night vision. _Why do these bastards always strike at night?_

Once they got to the top of the stairs into the back alley Vicki quickly tore her arm away from Henry and started towards the car, only stumbling when her heel rolled on a discarded stick. Henry sighed softly to himself as he followed, taking the keys out of his jacket pocket. In his four hundred and seventy-one years he'd seen stubbornness but nothing like this. While her independence was one of the things he loved about her, sometimes Vicki's actions were downright—childish. He winced. Like her inability to commit. She loved Henry, but didn't _love_ him. It didn't help she was seeing Mike Celluci at the moment but as he'd gotten the same line as Henry it was hard to blame the mortal for their ménage-a-trois.

"So this makes two bodies in as many nights, not counting Alphonso. Bastard works quick," Vicki grumbled as she put on her seat belt. Eduardo Alphonso was her client, although former client would be a better classification given his now deceased status. _Until this is solved, he's still my client_. He'd procured her services after his home was ransacked. It was unnerving enough for his business to have suffered a similar fate the night before but an assault on his privacy had all but finished him. Because in both instances he had found nothing missing, Alphonso needed to know who was responsible since it indicated the culprit was looking for _something_. That was another problem: he had no idea what the would-be thief was looking for. Having an antique store meant many a curious object had passed through his hands over the years. He'd also had to deal with obsessed collectors who'd tried to bribe, threaten and placate themselves in order to get the latest object of desire. This was something different, he was sure of it. Only too late did he discover how right he was.

"At least we're getting closer," Henry said to break up the quiet.

"Its latest victims are just as dead as all the rest of them," Vicki scowled. "At least the damn thing can only appear every twenty-four hours after its 'death.'" She looked to Henry for confirmation. He nodded. "Two bodies down, only Christ knows how many more until we kill this thing." It'd been bad enough finding out that a demon was after Alphonso until Henry informed her that the demon's human bodies had been exactly that—human.

"I hate to be so direct but where would you like to go?" Henry asked. "It's getting late and I haven't fed as of yet. So unless you're coming home with me—which I'm guessing you are not," he added quickly before Vicki could start in on him, "I'd best be getting on with my night."

"Take me back to the antique shop. Celluci should be in the thick of things and I can wrangle my way in for a peek." Detective-Sergeant Celluci had been Vicki's partner in homicide before she left the force because of her deteriorating vision. Of course, their relationship, like most things in Vicki's life, was more complicated as he was also her 'friends with benefits' partner over the last five years. Now he wanted exclusivity and she wasn't willing to give up Henry. Why must either of them try to fix what wasn't broken? Vicki frowned as she looked out the passenger window. _'Not broken for you,'_ was Celluci's response. Whatever.

On Queen Street, Vicki got out of the car five storefronts away from the bright lights of the police cars. The landowners had gone through a lot of trouble restoring the city block after a devastating fire a few years back. While some of the older establishments relocated to other areas of the city there were a stubborn few who returned to their stores. Queen Street was slowly but surely being yuppified with Starbucks and Home Depot, thereby turning the remaining eclectic stores into oddball curiosities.

Smiling at the police constable as she neared the door to the shop, Vicki was grateful she was on her old division's turf. Victoria 'Victory' Nelson was something of a legend, having passed quickly through the ranks to homicide because of her remarkable ability to close cases. Not every private investigator could call upon a lieutenant for a little information on an ongoing case or appear at a live crime scene without being escorted off the property.

"Nelson! Get out of here!" She squared up her five foot ten frame against Celluci's rapidly approaching figure. At six foot four, he made Vicki feel small. She didn't like feeling small. At all. Celluci scowled. "Did you not hear what I said? You're not a cop anymore so get going."

"Don't get your panties in a knot," Vicki growled. "As it happens I'm also on a case. Alphonso was my client."

"Ex-client."

"He's current until Henry and I catch his killer."

"Fitzroy? Figures _he'd_ be involved in this. Antiques dealer. Hell, must be like shopping in a department store for him." Celluci's scowl deepened. Henry. Definitely not a good sign. As it stood, he's heralded the appearance of a demon, werewolves and a four thousand year old mummy who very nearly took over the Toronto Police Services. _Shouldn't be any surprise. After all, Fitzroy _is_ a…romance writer._ "So what's happened this time?" Celluci's tossed his head towards the body of Alphonso. "Poltergeist rip out his throat? Zombie attack? _Someone_ get hungry?"

"Get stuffed," Vicki said harshly. "If you really want in the know, it's a demon."

Celluci swore. "Christ, not another one. You sure?"

"When you swab for prints you'll find mine. Henry and I were here just after Alphonso bit the big one. We _saw_ it—him." Celluci's eyes looked puzzled. "Henry seems to think the demon uses human bodies to do its dirty work," Vicki explained. Celluci swore again. Vicki answered with a wry smile. "Since I was here earlier you mind if I look around? I might find something new or out of place." Celluci grunted assent as she walked by.

Besides the broken rack of plates next to the body, the rest of the store looked untouched. Vicki's finger came up clean after running it along the ledge of a particularly knick-knacked shelf. _Damn. Could've used Alphonso at my apartment_. Side-stepping the coroner, she walked over to the small oak desk tucked into the corner of the large room. Yesterday's newspaper was neatly folded with a pair of reading glasses sitting on top. On the left side of the desk sat a memo holder with several pieces of paper spiked down its mast. Vicki looked over the top receipt and froze. The copy of the Fed-Ex receipt had a familiar address on it—hers. Casually running her hand through her dark blond hair, Vicki turned her head ever so slightly to see Celluci staring right at her. _Well, so much for that. Here's hoping he doesn't see the slip until I get home_.

After taking the better part of an hour Vicki walked over to Celluci, shaking her head. "Can't see anything different from earlier tonight, or the day before yesterday to be honest. Guess the turnaround in antiquedom isn't too fast."

"B.S. What aren't you telling me?" Celluci's eyes narrowed.

Vicki glared back. "Believe me or not, Mike. It's your call. Now if you'll excuse me it's nearly six a.m., my client's dead and I need some shuteye." She turned and marched her way out the door, ignoring the call of "We're not done" from Celluci.

Fortunately, her apartment was within walking distance of the crime scene. Making her way through Chinatown in the early pre-dawn light she hoped Mr. Chin hadn't picked up her package. Six a.m. was a little too early to be pounding on her neighbor's door. Vicki turned the lock on the front door and made her way down the hallway towards her apartment. She groaned as she peeled the Fed-Ex sticker from her door. Apparently Alphonso wanted her signature for the package. Fed-Ex would try again later today. Once inside the apartment, Vicki marched straight into her office and pulled out a sheet of paper from her drawer. FED-EX: KNOCK LOUDLY she printed, and got a piece of tape from the dispenser. After taping the message to the door, she stretched her arms as she made her way to the bedroom. She didn't sleep like the dead quite like Fitzroy but she'd make a damn good attempt.

XxX

He swirled the rum, creating a crystal whirlpool in the glass. After swallowing the contents whole he returned the glass to the oak side table and sighed. He really shouldn't let it get to him. It was going to be an arduous task but well worth it in the end—if he lived long enough to see it through. He grimaced. He was sure the demon was enjoying its little game, watching him twist in the wind as he struggled to understand its cryptic clues. But he would prevail. He wanted this too badly. His fingers absentmindedly played with the delicate gold ring dangling around his neck as he picked up the photograph from his lap and looked lovingly at the picture of a young woman.


	2. Chapter 2

The knock, although loud, came much too early for Vicki's liking. Grabbing her glasses from the nightstand, she glanced at her clock as she made her way to the hallway. Three thirty-eight. "Fed-Ex, ma'am," said the man as she opened the door. Her look made it obvious that no more pleasantries were necessary. "Sign here, please."

She weighed the package in her hand as she entered the living room. Putting it down on the coffee table, she walked to the kitchen and started the coffee maker. Granted, she was curious about the package but her head was too groggy to be at its best. Five minutes later with a steaming mug in hand Vicki settled on the couch and looked at the package. It hadn't weighed more than two pounds even though it took up a quarter of the table. Taking a good slurp of coffee before putting it down she grabbed a pen and drove it firmly, although shallow, into the tape holding the box lid. She slid the pen along the top until she could get a hold of both flaps with her hands and popped it open. Staring back at her was a sea of Styrofoam chips. Vicki felt around the box until something cold and metallic touched her hand. She pulled out what had to be the funkiest medallion on a chain this side of Saturday Night Fever.

Silver in coloration, the donut-shaped medallion displayed a repeated pattern of human-looking masks and crabs? Lobsters? The silver chain looked nondescript and definitely not original. _Why the hell would Alphonso send me this?_ Vicki turned the object but could find no maker's mark on the back. Maybe Henry could make something out of this. She reached for the phone at the end of the couch and noticed the flashing of her answering machine. Pressing the play button, she was greeted with a metallic-sounding voice.

_Two new messages. Message One_: "Vicki? It's Mom. Just wondering how you were. Guess you're out already. Can't still be sleeping now. Oh, it's one thirty by the way. Well, call me when you have a chance. Bye."

_Message Two_: "Vicki, where the hell are you? Pick up the damn phone and call me or so help me I'm banging down your door after shift's over. I've got the Fed Ex slip with your address so don't give me any more B.S."

Celluci was annoyed, yes, but not pissed. _He can wait_. Vicki grabbed the phone and pressed the familiar set of buttons. The one she needed wouldn't be awake for a few more hours.

"Henry Fitzroy is not able to come to the phone, but if you leave your name, number and a brief message, he'll get back to you as soon as he's able. Thank you."

Vicki cleared her throat as the tone sounded. "Henry, get yourself together and give me a call. Alphonso sent me a parting gift and I need your opinion on it." Pause. "You know, scrap that, I'll be there a half hour after sunset."

_Nothing more to do than wait_. "Hell with that," Vicki muttered, "I'm getting something to eat."

XxX

It's the coolness of the bed sheet on his naked body he's aware of first, seemingly fibrous for eight hundred count silk. As sunset continued, the sounds of the city came alive in a roar of disharmonious noises. Seconds ticked by until, at last, a deep inhalation and the beginning of a slow heart beat. He stretched, first his arms and legs and then his back. Sated, he collapsed onto the bed, resting but for a moment before he opened his eyes. Henry Fitzroy was awake.

He popped out of bed and, still naked, made his way into the living room, habit dictating the listening of phone messages as the first thing on his to-do list. The first call was from Brenda, his editor, reminding him that his current book was due in three weeks as of Thursday. She always went out of her way to worry in advance of a deadline. Vicki was next; Henry checked the mantle clock as he listened to the message. Half an hour gave him time to shower and get dressed.

Henry heard the key turn in the lock and Vicki enter the apartment almost half an hour to the second. With the mummy incident, when he'd thought himself suicidal for dreaming of the sun each time he awoke, Henry had given her a key so she could 'tuck him in' each morning to ensure he didn't do anything stupid. The closeness of their relationship meant he'd never asked for it back.

Vicki met him in the living room. "Need your expertise tonight, kiddo," she said as she pulled the wrapped medallion out of her purse. "Somehow I don't think Alphonso was giving me fashion tips when he sent this." Upon pulling the paper away from the medallion, Henry immediately sucked the breath between his teeth.

"Where—you said Alphonso sent this?" He paused to regain control of himself. "Curiouser and curiouser."

"What the hell is it?" Vicki asked as she handed the medallion to Henry. He backed away, hand stretched out to ward it from his body.

"Keep it away!" he hissed.

"Damn, Henry," Vicki exclaimed as she snatched it away. "What's with you?"

"That, my dear," Henry said carefully, "is something my kind, demon kind, anything preternatural at all shouldn't touch." Vicki pushed her glasses up her nose as she held up the medallion for a closer look.

"Why the hell'd Alphonso give me this? From what I'd gathered he didn't know what was after him much less know anything about the occult."

"I'm afraid the secret may be left to the dead since I gather he didn't leave a note?" Vicki shook her head. "Well then," Henry said as he crossed the room to the book shelf, "let's see if we can name our little bauble." He pulled down an ancient looking book with a worn red leather cover. Vicki grimaced. The book reminded her too much of the grimoire, one of only three true books of demonology in the world. Fortunately, the book was now in the claws of a demon lord in another dimension. The pages of the book flashed through Henry's hands as he searched for the medallion in its contents. "Here we are. I think. Give me some details."

"Well, it has four faces, the mouths and eyes are knocked out so I can see through them. The other four panels have either lobsters or crabs on them."

"Crabs," Henry confirmed. "Here we are. Well this is interesting. Apparently the Crowliot amulet is used to summon and banish entities back to their home plane."

"So what does that have to do with you? Don't tell me you're 'from another world.' Another planet sometimes but give me a break."

"Call it intuition. I just don't want to touch it."

"Fair enough. I—what's happening?" At once the eyes of the amulet glowed a deep red, the top most face retaining its eerie light as the rest quickly faded from view. "What the hell is this?" Vicki whispered.

Henry smiled grimly. "If it's what I think, it means some demon we know is making an appearance. Not here," he corrected as Vicki quickly looked around the apartment, "on earth, I mean. I think we can track it with the amulet and hopefully send it back."

"'Hopefully.' Not much of an assurance."

"Well, it's not like I haven't done this before without difficulties."

"Once, and it nearly killed you." Vicki narrowed her eyes.

"Well, there is that," Henry said seriously. "At least I know what my limitations are."

Vicki crossed the room to the door. "Let's get a move on. This thing's going to need a body soon."

"Just a second," Henry called as he scanned a particular passage from the opened book. "Ok, let's go." He grabbed his trench coat, turning off the lights as he closed the door.

XxX

"It's glowing again. Damn it Henry, can't you go any faster?" Vicki scowled. She hated leaving the driving to Henry but with her complete lack of night vision there was nothing she could do.

"Following the rules of the road means no tickets and no accidents," Henry answered smoothly. He chose his BMW for reliability, not flash.

"Whatever. Wait, glowing again. Turn right." Each face on the amulet was located on an east-west-north-south point. As the northern-most face had continued to glow as they left Henry's apartment they'd worked on the assumption that the amulet functioned like a compass. It wasn't until this turn onto Eglinton Ave. that their suspicions were confirmed. Less than five minutes later the amulet flashed again. "North at the lights, Henry." They turned left before making another right just two blocks down Warden Ave.

"Just great. A crap load of warehouses. Next time I want to find a demon standing in the middle of Nathan Philips Square," Vicki growled.

Henry drove slowly through the blocks until, at last, they'd isolated what they thought was the correct warehouse. After getting out in the visitor parking at the side of the building Vicki and Henry stole their way to the back. Once at the door Vicki made short work of the lock with her picks, although she couldn't see a thing. Only when they were inside with the door firmly shut did Vicki reach into her purse and pull out a flashlight. Henry winced as the bright light cut its way in the dark, flooding the top of a desk with an open thermos and half sandwich sitting on top.

"Looks as though we've got company," Henry whispered, "although I don't know of anyone who eats in the dark." Vicki said nothing, keeping her ears sharp as she crossed the floor and opened another door leading to the main part of the warehouse. They followed the left-most wall as they walked through the building, checking down each row of shelving as they passed.

It happened all at once—all four faces of the amulet lit up, Henry snarled and Vicki's flashlight caught the leg of a man standing in a wide aisle. The beam of light traced the man's body, highlighting his security guard uniform. Vicki ran a list of excuses through her head until she realized that none of them were necessary as the flashlight shone onto his face. There wasn't anything particularly demonic about his features; only a sense of wrongness seemed to permeate the air. He—It popped its jaw as its head angled to the right.

"Put the amulet around your neck and when I tell you, say _transmitadastramdiabolique_," Henry hissed through his teeth. The demon started towards them, its eyes began to glow. "Now!" Vicki complied. Nothing happened. "_Ad_astr_a_m not 'at, um'!" Before Vicki could try again the demon's hands began to glow. In an instant Henry appeared in front of the demon and punched it squarely on the jaw. Its head spun around in a complete circle before resting in its original position. "Vicki!" The demon grabbed Henry by the right forearm. He screamed.

"_Transmitadastramdiabolique_!" Vicki yelled, and with that the demon dissolved. Stunned, Vicki slowly made her way to the mound of smoldering ash on the floor. The demon was gone. The only problem was, so was Henry.


	3. Chapter 3

Alice POV:

I'm never sure when my visions come until it's too late. It's not so bad when I'm sitting or standing but when I'm in the middle of drying the dishes or carrying anything glass things can get a little messy. Jasper says I'm like a deer in the headlights. Of course, we eat deer so I've never much liked the analogy.

It's a little empty in the house, given the early morning. Jasper and Emmett had yet to return from their hunting trip and Carlisle was four minutes from home. I heard Esme humming to herself in the back part of the house. She had removed most of the walls to make one wide space so there were no secrets on the first floor. Well, not that there were many anyways what with our hypersensitive hearing, Edward's ability to read minds and my precognitive talents.

Rosalie was in her and Emmett's bedroom, flipping through _Car and Driver_ for another toy. I smiled. Too bad she's going with the red Porsche. I'd preferred the blue one.

My eyes glazed before me for a moment. Emmett had decided, much to Jasper's chagrin, to go for one last bear before returning. Fortunately they make it back before ten a.m. since it's going to be sunny in the afternoon. My eyes checked the clock before I returned to my clothing design program on the computer. Nessie, Bella and Edward's daughter, continued to grow like a weed so I had to continuously make new clothing. Of course, she loved every one of my designs; I'd never have made them if I didn't see otherwise.

I clicked _ok_ with my mouse to save the dress alterations—then I froze as I saw _him_ in the woods. Alone. My immediate reaction was to go to him but as soon as the thought entered my head I was inundated with visions, some horrifying, others very confusing and disconcerting. For a moment I hesitated, weighing the possibilities of what I had just seen yet in the act of hesitating I sparked another volley of visions, all different except for how they end. _He_ dies.

I was through the door and off the porch before I realized I was running. In a moment I was up and over the river, my feet already moving as they felt the ground beneath. I don't recall much of what I thinking at that moment but it must have been horrible as I passed by Bella and Edward's cottage. In an instant, Edward ran down the stone path in pursuit.

"Alice!" he shouted.

I couldn't stop. I had to get to _him_ before—

Edward ran ahead of me before turning, grabbing my shoulder to bring the both of us to a halt. "Alice, stop!" he pleaded.

I tried to go around him but Edward blocked my forward movement. "I have to get to him before dawn! Edward, it's minutes away!" I cried. Confused, yet moved by the urgency in my tone, Edward let me pass but followed me closely.

We heard rather than saw him first, staggering through the foliage. As one, Edward and I stopped as he came into view. Naked, he looked sunburned from head to toe. He moved a few more feet before he sensed our presence, then came to an abrupt stop.

"Stay here," I whispered to Edward, not taking my eyes off of the stranger as I approached. He tried to keep me away with a hiss although it's obvious he's too weak to stand. Edward immediately appeared at my side, growling at the man who dared threaten his sister. "Don't worry," I said, but both men continued to glare at each other. I put my hand on Edward's arm to stay him then made a second approach as a further vision made things clear. "Hello Henry, I'm Alice," I said lightly. "It's almost dawn. Let me take you somewhere safe." Henry looked at me, puzzled. I continued to walk towards him, arms at my side. "Edward, get ready to catch him; he's going to swoon." I smiled at Henry. "Don't worry, we've got you."

A small stumble as he stepped backwards sent Henry towards the ground. Edward went to him like a shot, making sure his head didn't hit anything hard.

"Like a light," Edward said, nodding towards Henry.

"Now get him to the house, pronto!"

Barely a minute after Carlisle stepped through the front door Edward entered, cradling an unconscious Henry in his arms. I came in behind the pair, voice hurried and perhaps a tad harsh as I told Edward to put him in the second floor linen closet. Esme looked at me worriedly; it wasn't often my tone carried a sense of dire urgency.

Carlisle was already up the stairs when Esme and I turned the corner towards the linen closet. Rosalie stood still as stone, brows furled as she watched Carlisle move Edward aside so he could kneel by Henry. We gave him a moment to assess the situation.

"Esme, can you get the emergency kit from the bathroom?" he said at last.

In a blink Esme handed him the white box. "How is he?" she asked.

"For the most part he's ok," answered Carlisle as he cleansed and began wrapping Henry's arm with light gauze. "Mostly looks like a bad sun burn except for his forearm, definitely second degree." He looked up at me. "It'd be easier to treat him in one of the bedrooms." I shook my head.

"Where did he come from?" Rosalie asked.

"The woods," I said simply. I paused, trying to conjure any vision that would explain Henry's sudden appearance. I shook my head. "The woods," I repeated, frowning.

Eyes narrowing, Carlisle cocked his head to the side as if to listen more acutely. "His heart. It beats, but far too slowly…." Carlisle raised his eyes to look at us. "I don't know what to make of him. He's—not human."

"What is he?" Esme breathed.

In an instant I knew. "He's a vampire."

Edward scoffed. "Hello, he has a heartbeat."

"Vampire," I said stubbornly.

"Alice," Esme began, "he's nothing like us."

"I didn't say he was," I pouted.

"No!" Carlisle shouted, and began pumping Henry's chest with his hands.

"What's wrong?" cried Rosalie.

"His heart, it's stopped!" He paused, waiting. "Six, seven, eight seconds and there again. No, it's beating but even slower than before."

"Oh, is that all," I sighed. "Well, don't worry about that, it'll rev again at sunset." All three looked at me incredulously. I rolled my eyes. "Fine. Don't believe the psychic."

Carlisle stared, then nodded. He'd wait until dusk before making up his mind.

XxX

I'd never been good at waiting. My visions of the future only showed what _could_ happen, not guarantees. The longer I let things go the more opportunities people had to make new decisions which would change my prediction. Of course, there are events that are so certain they seem inalterable. Edward had just about driven me crazy with his trying to keep Bella human schtick. I didn't have the heart to tell him that no matter what he did she still appeared at my side, alabaster hands together. Once he'd decided not to kill her, vampirism was her only alternative.

Jasper sighed softly as he absentmindedly rubbed my arm. I was curled against him on the bed while he lounged, propped on pillows in order to read. I loved spending time like this—relaxing in my lover's proximity as I sifted through the possible futures for my entire family. It was better than tv. Today, however, I was doing the equivalent of channel surfing at high speed. Sunset wasn't happening fast enough.

It wasn't just me who felt like this—everyone in the house was fidgeting with one thing or another as the minutes slowly dragged by. All of the nervous tension eventually got to Jasper so we retreated to his bedroom. Unlike Rosalie and Emmett, Jasper and I retained separate rooms. I knew Jasper as well as anyone could ever know him and therefore respected his space in times of need. Every once in a while he found himself overwhelmed by emotions or embattled against a perceived self-failing.

My stoic Jasper: a still water which truly ran deep.

As minutes became hours, we all found ourselves assembled in the dining room at sunset.

"How long now?" Bella asked, looking at me. Edward was caring for Nessie at the cottage so she felt free to satisfy her curiosity about this stranger in the midst.

"He'll be here shortly. He had to wake up," I said.

"This is right out of _Dracula_," Emmett smirked, arm around Rosalie's waist. "We await the Count."

"Actually," said a voice from the doorway, "I'm a bastard Prince."

We turned in unison to look at Henry, who leaned against the doorframe in a pair of Edward's track pants with the legs rolled to the ankle. Henry was about five foot six if anything and his red-gold hair shone in the light, although not to the coppery intensity of Edward's hair. While paler than normal, he was no where near our white marble complexion.

"However," he continued, "the real question isn't what I am, but where. This isn't Toronto." He paused as he let his senses expand to encompass the surrounding air. "Vancouver?"

"Right side of the continent, wrong country," Emmett quipped. "You're in Washington State."

"I see. And unless the State of Washington is a supernatural homeland I'll assume that you all come from somewhere else?"

"All over time and geography," Carlyle answered. "Most of us travel in small bands but there are a few of us with larger families who've made permanent residences."

"And by 'us' you mean—"

"Vampires," Rosalie said haughtily.

"Well," Henry laughed, his silvery voice sent a shiver down my back, "seems we have a difference of opinion on the definition of 'vampire'. Granted you don't smell human but I also don't sense anything particularly vampiric about any of you."

"You're equally as puzzling," Carlisle agreed after taking the time to introduce us formally. "When your heart nearly stopped this morning I nearly jumped out of my skin. Alice said not to worry but how could I not?"

Henry smirked. "I sleep like the dead. Perhaps during those hours I truly am." All at once he grimaced. "You must forgive me. I Hunger."

"We don't allow feeding in our territory," Carlisle explained slowly. Henry raised a red-gold eyebrow. "We've a permanent residence here. We can't afford too many murders in the vicinity."

Henry looked shocked. "Murders? You mean you kill them?"

"_We_ don't, but others do," Esme said defensively.

"My Hunger is only addressed through need, not desire," Henry assured her. "Of course I can smell the blood"—In a flash I could see him in the bedroom of a human female, tracing the veins from her neck with his eyes as the pounding of her heart accelerated, her eyes dilate—"that doesn't mean I have to go berserk. Killing attracts attention and I am nothing if not discreet."

"Port Angeles is nearby," Rosalie suggested.

"I don't know," Carlisle said. "The risk—"

"The last thing I want to do is inconvenience you, Carlisle. I thank you all for taking me in." He looked towards me and I smiled broadly in return.

"Not a chance," Emmett interjected. "We don't know where you come from. Tell you what, I'll take you to Port Angeles myself. Carlisle?"

All of us looked at the man we regarded as the soul of the family. "Love?" Esme said as she took his hand. "He's obviously not like us. Perhaps this extends to his blood habits as well. We can't starve him and Emmett is right, we can't have him wandering alone."

Carlisle bit the side of his cheek, thinking. After a minute, he nodded. At once the smile left my face. Jasper looked at me, somewhat confused. No matter what my desires, one way or the other I knew Henry was destined to stay. I just didn't know how I felt about that.

That settled, Henry moved on to another topic, one much closer to his heart. "I hope you don't mind the long-distance charges but I really have to call Toronto. I left my companion in a rather unorthodox manner as you well know and she must be worried sick."

"That's what a phone plan is for. Just dial as normal," Esme smiled.

After giving him the phone she and the rest of the family left the room to give him some privacy. Well, everyone but me. I had to be here when he realized what had happened.

He dialed the number with practiced ease and waited for his companion to answer. A slight frown crossed his forehead as I heard a man's voice over the receiver.

"Celluci."

"Good evening Detective. I should have expected to hear you at Vicki's place," Henry said flatly.

"Where the hell else _would_ I be?" Celluci sneered back. "Who is this anyways?"

"Very funny. Is Vicki there?"

"You didn't answer my question so why the hell should—" Celluci's raised voice cut short and he growled out a quieter "_Fine_."

"Vicki Nelson here. Who's this?" she said in a voice which carried with it a no nonsense attitude.

Henry's jaw tightened. "Henry," he said icily.

"Henry who?"

"I'm in no mood for games, Vicki. Apparently the demon transported me to Washington State and I have no—"

"What the hell are you talking about? 'Demon'?" Vicki asked incredulously. "Look Henry—what's your name? Never mind, not important—Look, it's after eleven, my husband's pissed and I'm too damn tired to put up with this crap. I don't know how you got this number much less know me but piss off unless you're a client. In that case call me at the office."

Henry was too shaken to turn off the phone after Vicki hung up. I smiled in sympathy as I could see him process what had happened, both in the phone call and to him personally.

At last he looked at me. "Where am I?" he said quietly.

"Forks, Washington."

"Not my Forks, Washington," he said evenly.

"Not yours, no," I agreed, keeping my voice even.

He sighed as he looked down at the phone, finally pressing the hang up button. "This has just gotten a lot more complicated…."

XxX

David was having one of the luckiest days of his life. A day every fisherman dreamed of as he snagged and played with a giant trout, its rainbow scales glittering orange in the dawn. This was the third such beauty he'd caught in the past hour and as the day was young he couldn't see how an extra hour or two on the rock could hurt his wife's schedule for the 'honey-do' list.

The trout flipped high out of the water before returning with a resounding splash. _Counting my chickens too fast, Dave ol' boy_. He wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand and adjusted his grip on the rod. _A little closer…a little closer…_

At once David turned to look over his shoulder. Wide-eyed and heart pounding he scoured the foliage for any sign of a rampaging bear or cougar. Nothing. He shook his head as he turned back towards the water. He could have sworn he felt something looking at him. Something predatory. David eyed the two fish he had beside him. If worse came to worse he'd jump in the river and let whatever it was have the fish. He smiled grimly. _Forget one, this'll be the day three big ones got_—

David's head flew forward as what felt like a fiery mud ball smashed into his skull. Searing white heat nearly blinded him as every nerve in his body jarred to life in jumps and spurts. It felt as though a plug was pulled in his brain as his thoughts and feelings swirled down, down into the black. He was so very cold and in an instant was no more.

It blinked once, twice before stretching its arms and loosening its neck. Nose in the air, it sniffed the unfamiliar surroundings. A smile crossed what were once David's thin lips. While it knew it was not in the correct dimension it at least had a ready food source. It turned from the river and headed along the trail that led to the highway—and Forks.

The sun's rays were winning the battle against the ever lightening clouds. It was going to be a lovely day.


	4. Chapter 4

Celluci inundated Vicki with questions as soon as she opened her apartment door.

"Where the hell were you? I see by the machine that you got my message so why didn't you call?"

Vicki walked quietly into the living room. In an instant Celluci was silent. There were things in this world a person could count on: the sun shining, political corruption and Vicki ripping the head off of anyone daring to yell at her—particularly him. On more than one occasion Mr. Chin from downstairs had knocked on the door in order to have them drop their 'conversation' to a more desirable decibel.

He started again in a more reasonable tone. "I thought you'd be out with Fitzroy. So where is our resident romance writer? Dining late?"

Vicki pulled from her purse what looked like a bag of dirt and tossed it on the coffee table. "He's right here."

"What the hell happened?" Celluci stammered.

She dropped her purse before flopping exhaustingly down on the couch. "I have no idea." Vicki leaned back, spiking her blond hair with her fingers. "We found the demon in a warehouse near Warden. Henry said we could send it back to its home dimension with this amulet." She thumbed it in disgust. "So we got to it. I screwed up. Henry died. End of story. Oh, wait, post script: demon's dead, too."

Celluci sat down next to Vicki. "Screwed up how?"

"Henry had me say some mumbo jumbo. I couldn't get the pronunciation. I took too long getting it right and when I did I fried both of them. Post script two: you'll get a report about a missing security guard. He's here too." She touched the bag of ashes with her foot.

"Damn it Vicki, I'm sorry." To his surprise he _was_ sorry to see Henry go. Although both of them fought over Vicki Celluci had a grudging respect for the bastard aristocrat. Hell, Henry had called him an honorable man.

At once Vicki stood up, grabbing both her purse and the bag of ashes.

"Where do you think _you're_ going?" Celluci demanded.

"Henry's. He's got some things I'll need when that demon comes around again."

"What do you mean, 'comes around.' I thought you fried it."

Vicki stuffed the ashes back into her purse as she started towards the door. "Fried the human host. The thing'll be back in twenty four hours. Only this time, we won't have Henry."

"Terrific." Celluci stood up and grabbed his coat. "I'll give you a lift."

Vicki was pissed more than anything else. After four hundred and seventy one years Henry had to die on _her_ watch. It wasn't—what? Fair? If fair had been fair she'd never have met Henry at all. He'd of stayed as the historical footnote he was in her European History class at university. He'd be dust. _Not like he isn't now._

She opened the door to his apartment like she had countless times before but this time it was different. Until she turned on the light in the landing the rooms beyond existed in a state of inky nothingness. For once his apartment, forever inviting, now sat cold and silent.

Vicki meant to make her way to the living room but she stopped in front of the bedroom door. _There's nothing in there I need_. She opened the door. The stage blackout curtain hung right before her. After spending one long and creepy day with Henry's empty body Vicki had picked up the curtain so she could open the door to the apartment beyond without letting in any daylight. After keeping Henry from killing himself the last thing she'd wanted to do was turn him to— _Damn it, stop!_ He'd been extra careful when he'd moved into the apartment, having put a curtain against the window so as to give it an ordinary appearance to onlookers even as from the inside the plywood barrier complete with caulked seal was hidden by black velvet curtains. Vicki smiled grimly. She'd keep her feelings as sealed as the window until she got rid of that damned demon.

Back in the living room, Vicki plunked her purse down on the table beside the open book from last night. She read a few lines written beside a sketch of the amulet she wore. _Latin_. Christ. How was she going to get the information she needed to stop the demon permanently? She closed the cover so she could read the name: _Creaturas Noctis_.

"Not like I can pop by a crusty professor and have him translate instructions to exorcise a demon, no questions asked," Vicki grumbled. She needed to know more about the book. Plucking the side of her mouth with her tongue, Vicki scanned the living room. It hit her like a bolt—Henry's computer was in his office.

Vicki flexed her fingers as she sat before the booting computer. She didn't know a hell of a lot about computers. What little she did know came thanks to Mr. Chin's daughter, who stayed at Vicki's apartment for three hours with her lap top when she'd forgotten her house key at school. _Ok, internet, internet, all right. Now, click, history and voila!_

Glancing through the web site history Vicki noticed two things: oddly for a single guy, Henry had no links to porn sites and that the last seven searches revolved around demons. She clicked on the top most entry, hoping that he'd quit while he was ahead instead of abandoning his search. The site came up as an error.

"Damn it! What the hell did I do?" Vicki said in exasperation. She went back to the history and clicked the second address. This time it took her to a page which had the instant look of academia; listed as an article was an entry on magic associated with demonology. She quickly clicked and then scrolled down the page. In italic script the heading _Creaturas Noctis_ caught her eye. The paragraph explained that the text, from the early seventeenth century, collected historical references to magical interactions with demons including summoning and banishing and the talismans and rituals associated with such deeds.

Vicki looked down at the amulet. _How the hell old _is_ this thing?_ She looked back at the screen. _So did Henry just happen to have a copy kicking around or— _

She clicked the history screen and looked at the first entry again. While the mix of slash dot jumble of numbers and letters dot html meant absolutely nothing, the first two parts were crystal clear: Triskelion Books. She Googled the name and scanned the forthcoming website. Apparently the store specialized in antiquities and rare books, A.K.A. expensive as hell and functioned by appointment only. She clicked on 'Location,' her eyes brightened when she saw a Toronto address and phone number. Going into the living room, she picked up the phone and dialed.

"Triskelion Books, Arthur Creighten speaking," said the answering voice.

"Hello, I'm a friend of Henry Fitzroy. He said that he picked up a book from your store," Vicki responded. She reminded herself not to swear.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Fitzroy. I had the pleasure of meeting him two nights ago. It's always a pleasure to consult with a fellow collector. So what can I do for you, Ms.…"

"Vicki Nelson. Umm it's more about the _Creaturas Noctis_, actually. I was wondering if there were any books that translated the text into English?"

There was a pause. "Don't tell me you actually _believe_ the goings-on in the text, Ms. Nelson."

"Not _believe_ believe, no. Just call it a case of curiosity." Vicki bit her lip, hoping she sounded sincere.

"I don't think I'm the best candidate for this conversation. You should speak to David Staten at Nebula Bookstore; he's more into this sort of…thing," Creighten responded, a slight sneer in his voice.

Vicki thanked him for his time and hung up. Back to the computer, she looked up the address for Nebula Books, which placed it near Bathurst Street and Bloor. She checked her watch. Since it closed at midnight she had time to catch a few hours' sleep before going to the bookstore. She hesitated for a moment before shaking her head and walked into the bedroom. _It's not like Henry's going to mind._


	5. Chapter 5

Henry POV:

It was two hours since I'd woken and I was enjoying the breathtaking view of the surrounding forest from the living room window, trying to politely ignore Emmett as he described for the umpteenth time my night escapade from a week ago.

"You should have seen him: in and out the window, a nip in bed, a 'Go to sleep, it's all a dream.' I mean right out of the movies," Emmett finished with a grin.

"Drop it, Em. It's getting old," Jasper warned. From what Alice had told me Jasper sensed emotions around him and can further manipulate said feelings to his advantage. I'm not entirely comfortable with that: part of the vampire allure and, to be honest our defense, is our being a mystery. As a private detective, Vicki had admitted my ability to hide my thoughts and feelings were part of the attraction. The Mystery. _Vicki_. I reached out to the window, wanting its coolness to sooth my thoughts.

"It will be interesting to see how the population adjusts to a sudden increase in lethargic females. Perhaps it will be attributed to mononucleosis," Carlisle said with a little smile.

Esme's mouth opened in surprise. "Don't you _dare_ encourage him, Carlisle Cullen. Emmett doesn't need any more fuel on the fire."

"Actually," I said as I turned toward the room, "a man's bed fills the need just as effectively as a woman's attention."

"So you bat for both teams," teased Emmett, eyes sparkling in jest.

"In the hunt it doesn't matter if it's stag or doe," I sniffed.

"Humans aren't deer," said Esme sternly.

I agreed. "You're right. They're much more than that. Their gift of blood is more precious than anything else found in nature—as I'm sure we're all aware."

My comment added an air of seriousness to the room. Before I allowed Jasper to correct the emotional upheaval I gave what I hoped was a disarming smile and went outside.

The moon was almost full, although the cloud cover allowed but an occasional glimpse of the glowing orb. My ears detected the sound of running water so I quietly descended from the porch and crossed the lawn. I stopped at the water's edge, peering into the forest beyond to see a path on the other side. The river was a goodly expanse, something I could probably leap with a running start but I was disinclined to spend the effort. I picked up a small flat stone and turned it over in my palm. A sudden surge of anger caused me to skip the rock across the water's surface.

One week. One week since I'd arrived God knows where thanks to Vicki's spell. From what I could gather when she banished the demon I somehow went with it. Either it was the physical contact itself that landed me here or it was my vampire nature the Crowliot amulet did not like. Regardless, I had to hope _my_ Vicki was working on a plan to get me back since this world's Vicki didn't know me at all.

'_My husband is pissed….'_ Never for a moment could I imagine Celluci and Vicki married. She was _mine_ after all. I frowned as I looked across the river. Well, as mine as she wanted to be. Until this moment I never thought about Celluci's position in this ménage a trois. How difficult it must be to have a vampire lover invade what was otherwise a normal human relationship. Well, as normal as a commitment phobic person like Vicki could have with a man. Was this what would have happened if I never encountered Vicki at the crime scene? A life with Celluci? This new world I was on was similar in nature to my own save for a few differences: the Buffalo Bills won four Super Bowls in a row, President Clinton sat in office.

"And Vicki Nelson never heard of Henry Fitzroy," I whispered.

"Hi," said a spritely voice. I turned to see Alice standing before me, hands clenched as they lay crossed in front of her body. I frowned slightly before recovering. Whether it was because I was distracted or I truly didn't hear her coming was irrelevant. For a moment I was vulnerable and that was truly unacceptable.

"Forgive me, I'm not used to the company," I said, indicating the house with my head.

"We're the regular Brady Bunch," agreed Alice.

"You're all rather lucky," I smiled before falling silent. I looked straight ahead, although what I saw wasn't the forest landscape beyond. Like a ghost Alice floated to my side.

"_My _kind of vampire is a solitary creature. Extremely territorial. We don't socialize with others of our kind—which is truly unfortunate," I said, suddenly wistful.

Alice stood there, seemingly waiting for me to continue.

"What I envy you the most is your opportunity to be involved in each other's lives, create shared memories. To live among those time won't take in a few short years."

"Have you no one at all?" Alice asked.

"There's one: Vicki, my mortal lover."

"Oh." Alice flexed gracefully on the balls of her feet as she glimpsed skyward just as the moon made its appearance. "Well, don't worry yourself too much. You'll see her again, I promise." While her statement might normally be taken as optimistic thinking I'd come to know over the week that her ability to foretell the future was something not to be ignored.

I looked over at her: onyx-eyed and marble-faced with a mischievous smile, Alice was a thing of preternatural beauty. She was the opposite of my dour mood; indeed she made anyone she met seem melancholic. Standing just shy of five feet, Alice reminded me of the ladies from my mortal years. In the here and now women stand equal to my height and beyond, although my short stature didn't seem to matter when it came to mutual attraction.

Alice turned towards me and grinned, eyes sparkling. Though puzzled, I smiled back; there was something in her eyes that suggested more than a moment of shared comradery but I couldn't discern what. She'd apparently decided not to let me in on her thoughts. Gently, she wove her arm through mine and rested her head against my shoulder. It was how Emmett found us as he appeared in a flurry of motion. Thank God I could at least hear him.

"Alice, the weather channel says it's going to storm later tonight!" he said excitedly.

"Two twenty-six to be exact," Alice responded.

"We've so got to play. It's been a while since we had even teams."

"Teams?" I enquired.

"Baseball, mon ami," Emmett grinned. "America's past time. Know how to play?"

I gave a wry smile, hoping the annoyance his suggestion of anachronism generated didn't show on my face. "While I know the mechanics of the game I've never the opportunity to test my abilities."

"Well, here's your chance," Emmett said heartily.

"It's not as bad as you think," Alice said sweetly. "Although I do have a mean fastball."

I laughed, infected by their shared enthusiasm. "Baseball. Why not?"

XxX

By the time we arrive at the field the teams have already been set: Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper and Alice on one side and Edward, Carlisle, Esme and myself on the other. When I asked if Bella would prefer to play she shook her head.

"Definitely not. Sports and Bella have never been friends."

"Our new resident umpire," Edward laughed as his arms encircled her waist. "Calling the shots—like always."

Bella rolled her eyes. "Give me a break," but she was too slow to catch Edward as he scuttled away from her playful swat.

After a few practice pitches Esme shrugged her shoulders as Jasper made his way to the batter's box. His bat circled in anticipation as the ball arced towards him and like that, he hit a burner to left field. While I went to cover first base Edward scooped the rolling ball, executing a perfect pivot as he launched it in my direction. The ball was lightening fast but my reflexes automatically put my hands out for the catch. The sting almost caused me to drop the ball. I was definitely going to feel that later.

"Easy," Alice warned. "Remember, he's not as solid as we are." Edward called out an apology.

I grimaced as I threw the ball back to Esme. "Think nothing of it."

Alice was next. The bat looked half as tall as her yet it made a resounding _thwack_ as she connected, the ball quickly leaving the infield. She flitted around the bases and I found myself watching her graceful gait. Safe at third.

Emmett was the clean-up hitter. His home-run bomb rocketed into the outfield almost faster than I could see. The ball hit a tree and fortuitously bounced back to Edward, who's more careful with his throw. Through the corner of my eye I could see Emmett charging head long towards me. I stood in front of his bulk even as my arm stretched for the ball, only moving off the bag a split second after feeling the ball in my hand.

"Out!" Bella called.

"He's a fast one," Emmett chuckled.

From there it took only an additional fifteen minutes to strike out the side. It must have been rather demoralizing to see Alice begin to loosen her arm as Rosalie made her way to the batter's box. Nothing like having your teammate count you out before the actual event.

Alice passed me as I jogged back to the unofficial 'dug-out'. "Stop at second," she whispered. I shook my head, chuckling under my breath.

Esme batted first. While Carlisle thought me the better choice since my abilities were untested Edward insisted I go third. "Esme should get on so you'll have at least one additional run to get home," he rationalized.

I turned stiffly to watch Esme select a bat and walk to home plate. Never in my four hundred and seventy-one years had my vampiric abilities been so easily _dismissed_.

"We just don't know what you can do," Edward said as a means of apology. I'd not forgotten that he reads minds; I just had no way of stopping him save not thinking at all and my temperament made that out of the question.

As Edward predicted, Esme hit her way onto first base and Carlisle brought them both home with a solid _smack_ to center field.

At last the unknown equation came to the forefront as I stepped calmly to home plate. _Casey At The Bat. How did that go again?_ I could hear Edward laughing to my right. My attention refocused on the vision before me: a ball-capped dynamo wearing a pixie grin.

Alice winked and immediately thereafter launched the ball towards the plate. I watched the speed at which the ball entered Bella's hands. As she wasn't playing she wouldn't cover home but Bella did volunteer to function as a catcher so both teams could field their entire squad.

"That's strike one," Bella said as she threw the ball back to Alice. "Any ball that's not hit is a strike." I nodded as I took a couple of practice swings to loosen my arms.

As Alice let loose with another fastball I swung forward but pulled up short of the plate, far away from the streaking ball. "Strike two."

Now confident of the timing I made no mistake with the third pitch as I hammered the ball down the third base line. Jasper was after it like a shot as I sped my way to second. When I pulled up I was out of breath; while I could move at speeds nearly undetectable to the human eye I could only do so for short distances. Alice seemed to anticipate my need for rest as she took the time to adjust her hat and tap the non-existent dirt from her sneakers.

Next up was Edward who clipped the ball, sending it over Emmett's head at short stop but not as deep into the field as he would have liked. Knowing I had a speedster behind me or perhaps it was more of a matter of pride I tore past third base and made my way for home. Bella moved aside as Alice flitted to cover home plate. I wouldn't outrun Rosalie's perfect throw so I did the only thing I could and slid feet-first into Alice, hoping I wouldn't break anything. To prevent any injury on my part Alice angled herself away from the plate as she caught the ball. She bent over me and lightly touched my chest.

"Safe!" Bella declared.

"Am I?" I said as I flashed an impish smile at Alice. She looked absolutely priceless with her mouth formed into an 'o' to match her widening eyes. For once, the psychic was too stunned to say anything.

I stood up, yelling triumphantly at Emmett who responded in kind. Then I saw Edward's face as he came to a stop just short of home plate. From his frown I gathered he'd heard something he didn't like but I was unsure of what he was disapproving. I wasn't aware of any wayward thoughts on my part. I gazed at Alice as she danced her way to the pitcher's mound. Maybe the problem was I had stopped thinking altogether.

XxX

A blue Ford truck honked its horn as it stopped in the street.

"Where's the rod, Dave?" said Mr. Newton through the window, eyeing the man's hip waders and hat with several hooks stuck in its brim. "Don't tell me you need another one already? You'll keep the shop in the black for sure at this rate."

It smiled widely, eyes glinting, but said nothing.

Getting no response, Mr. Newton bit the side of his cheek. "Well anyways, I'll see you around." As he drove off he looked at David in the rear view mirror. It wasn't like him to take a teasing lying down. Maybe it's just one of those days.

From its previous hosts it had learned to keep its lips upturned as the action seemed to keep the humans at ease. Scanning the surroundings as it walked, it observed humans waving their limbs at each other and stop to converse while others carried bags which they crammed into the rear of their metal contraptions.

A door opened to the left and a human male strolled out onto the porch. Immediately it stopped. The smells emanating off this human were preternatural in origin. It started towards the man.

Pulling out his keys as he neared the squad car Charlie Swan walked the walk of a man who'd had a satisfying breakfast. Since Bella had—moved out—he'd been forced to fend for himself. He had to admit that Bella's cooking had spoiled him, thus he spent a lot more time and money at the local diner.

"Hey Dave. Nice day," Charlie said as he neared. David waved back a little too enthusiastically and he wore a ridiculous grin. Charlie wondered if he had been drinking.

"See you're going to do a little fishing. Out by the rock or meadow stream?"

It ignored the human's words, concentrating on the scent—or scents to be more specific. The odors of the dead-who-walk and were-beasts were the most dominant with a hint of sweetness of something human-yet-not. Perhaps they had the means to send it home.

Charlie frowned. "You all right Dave?"

It cocked its head as it looked the human in the eye.

A woman stuck her head out the diner's door. "Phone for you, Chief."

Charlie hesitated for a moment before heading into the diner. "Just hang on for a minute, Dave. I want to talk to you," he said firmly, clapping David on the shoulder as he walked past.

It watched the human enter the building before it headed off in the opposite direction. "'I want to talk to you,'" it said in a perfect imitation of the human's voice. "'Just hang on for a minute, Dave.'" It lowered its tone, becoming more nasal in pitch. "'Where's the rod, Dave?'" Apparently its vessel was called 'Dave'. It stopped and looked again at the diner. In a higher voice it repeated: "'Phone for you, Chief.'" Its eyes glistened with malevolent intelligence as the human exited the building and looked around before stepping off the porch towards the mechanical box.

"Chief," it said quietly. "I want to talk to you."


	6. Chapter 6

Nebula Bookstore stood two blocks from Bathurst Street on the south side. Vicki missed the place twice, having to ask passers-by for directions since the shop lay in the depths of darkness at the bottom of a steep staircase. She blindly made her way down the steps, cringing inwardly as her hand gripped the bacteria and gum infested hand railing.

The little cow bell on the door chimed as she entered the shop. To her immediate right was a glass case containing an array of hard-covered books. Next to it was a shelf labeled 'New Books' behind which sat a cash register and a man, mid forties, sitting on a stool. Looking around to make sure none of the patrons were within hearing distance Vicki spoke in a low, clear voice.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for David Staten."

"You've found him," he said with a warm smile. "What can I do for you?"

"My name's Vicki and the owner of Triskelion Books sent me here to talk to you about my—problem." She showed him the cover of the _Creaturas Noctis_.

"Where did you get that?" Staten hissed. "Oh wait, Creighton. He has no business selling anything like this." He frowned.

"A friend of mine's a collector. We—him and I—were going through the book and we accidently, umm" –here Vicki paused for effect—"well, we _summoned_ something."

Staten sucked in his breath. "When did this happen?"

"Last night."

"Where's your friend, now? It's best if we have the entire summoning force available."

"He's right here," Vicki responded coolly, patting her purse.

His eyes widened. "The demon—"

"Um, yeah. Believe me, that's why I need your help."

A wry grin flashed over his face. "Yes, well, April Fool's Day is a few months off yet, my dear. Why not come back and try again."

"Excuse me?" Vicki gasped. _What the hell happened?_ "I don't think you get that I'm serious."

"Oh really," he said, as he folded his arms over his chest. "And what's going to convince me of that?"

"How 'bout this?" she said as she pulled the amulet from her shirt.

"Michael above!" Staten looked wide-eyed at Vicki. She gave a wry smile in return. "People," he said to the store at large, "I'm afraid I've some personal affairs to attend tonight so the store will be closing now." A murmur of 'no problems' and 'hope things are ok' flow from the patrons as they passed through the door.

Staten locked and removed the key to the cash register before turning off the music. "So what time did you summon the demon?"

"Well, it's not like we summoned it. The amulet sort of 'went off' around sunset."

"Ah yes, a most powerful time, the twilight hour," Staten mumbled, keys in his mouth as he struggled into his jacket.

"So anyways, we followed the amulet—"

"Followed!" Staten said as he spit the keys into his hand. "Who do you think you are, _Ghostbusters_?"

Vicki blushed from the rebuke. "Henry is—was—an expert in this sort of thing. He said all we needed to send the demon back to where it came from were the book and amulet. And to be fair, it _did_ work."

"So why do you need me?" Staten asked as he locked the door.

"Because Henry's," _Dead? Fried? Vaporized?_ "gone and the demon won't be."

Staten walked thoughtfully along Bloor, not saying anything until he stopped for the light at Brunswick Avenue. "This demon—you get a good look at it?"

"Not much to look at. Henry said it possessed human bodies." At this, Staten became alarmed.

"You didn't—kill—anyone did you?" he whispered.

"Of course not!" Vicki snapped. "Well, unless you count vaporizing two guys with a word of mumbo jumbo an offense under the criminal code."

"Just checking. Magic can get a little messy in the eyes of the law." They crossed Bloor and continued down Brunswick, the line of poplars casting eerie shadows on the ground. Not that Vicki could see them: things looked black and blacker beyond the street lights. She pushed her glasses up her nose as she silently counted the house lights from the corner so she could find Staten's address in daylight hours.

"Here we are," Staten said brightly as he turned up a walkway. "Mind the steps, they're a little crooked." He opened the screen door and inserted his key into an ancient bolt lock. With a pop, the inner door swung open and Vicki waited until Staten turned on a light before entering. The landing was crowded as a staircase to the second level took up half the space. She followed him into the living room where he turned on the overhead lights and a reading lamp for good measure. Moving a pocket book and a newspaper crossword puzzle off the wooden box that sat in front of the sofa he inclined his head for Vicki to have a seat. He crossed the floor, took off his jacket and hung it on the rack before returning to the sofa. He seemed nervous. At last he dragged the winged back chair from the corner towards the box and sat across from Vicki.

"So. Can I—Can I see the book?" Staten stammered. Vicki frowned as she passed the _Creaturas Noctis_ to his sweaty hands. Placing the book on the box Staten carefully opened the pages, his fingers rubbing the edges like a longed-for lover.

"It's in Latin," Vicki warned.

Staten was undaunted. "Not to worry. Took it in both grammar school and university."

"Christ, am I the only one who took Roman history in translation?" Vicki cleared her throat. "Anyways my friend looked up the name of the amulet—the Crowliot? Something like that?" Staten looked up and nodded. "And found a spell to send the demon back to its mother. _Transmitada—_"

"Shut up!" Staten shouted, then turned beat red. "Forgive me. _Never_ say a word of power without meaning it." He flipped through the book until he found the correct page and scanned the paragraph on the Crowliot Amulet. "Very powerful," he said at last. "Do you mind if I have a look at it?" There was something in his eye Vicki did not like.

"Only if it's from here," she replied, giving the chain a hard yank against her neck. Staten leaned in for a look.

"Ah, yes, the four spirits from the north, south, east and west and the concordant crabs."

"What's with the crabs, anyways?" Vicki asked.

"They cut the dimensional lines that hold a demon in our world. It's like the demon spins a web in order to attach itself to this reality."

Vicki pursed her lips. "So when I 'cut the strings' the demon turned to dust. Ok, I'll bite, but what about Henry? He's from _here_."

"Yes, well, that I don't know. You said you, well, _have_ him here?" He indicated her purse. Vicki nodded. "Well then, let's have a look shall we?"

While she pulled the bag of ashes from her purse, Staten went to the curio cabinet and took out what looked like a silver bowl and a pack of matches. Placing the items on the table he went into the kitchen and returned with several spice jars. Looking into the bowl Vicki could see three charcoal briquettes. Smiling shyly, Staten lit a match and dropped it into the bowl.

"Without getting too complicated, I'm going to test the ashes to see if your friend's _chi_ is still present if he hasn't—moved on," he explained to Vicki.

"You mean he could still be _alive_?" she said, horrified.

"Not in the way you mean. His spirit could be 'stuck' however." He shrugged. "Regardless, there should be some kind of residue. We'll just have a look-see and figure things out from there, ok?" Vicki nodded, still shaken.

As the flames grew higher Staten opened the jars and shook some spices into his palm. Vicki could smell sage and cumin? Nutmeg? She shrugged to herself; the only kind of spice she cooked with was pepper. The last jar contained what looked like dried grass, which had a sickly sweet smell as it burned in the flames.

"Now if I could have some of the ashes?" Staten asked politely. Vicki looked at the bag. She was reticent to give up any part of Henry. If, however, there was any chance he was still _in_ there…. She passed the bag to Staten, who took out a pinch of ash and with a twist of foreign-sounding words dashed it into the fire. Vicki expected a big 'poof' but there was nothing spectacular, only a little wisp of smoke and a smell of burnt leaves.

Staten frowned. He grabbed another pinch of ash and repeated the process with similar results. "Odd, I'm not getting any essence."

"What do you mean?" Vicki moved closer to the bowl.

"If I understand you correctly, your friend said the demon inhabited a human host?" Again, Vicki nodded. "If that's true it would have eaten the man's soul to 'make room' so to speak. I'd expect no essence from that pile of ashes but your friend should _be_ here—and he's, well, not."

"Where the hell _is_ he?" Vicki growled. "I said 'power of Grayskull' and he vaporized."

"Maybe not. You were performing a banishing spell. Maybe when you banished the demon your friend went with it."

"You mean to say he's _alive_, that he's God-knows where at this moment making cozy with the demon?" Vicki groaned.

"It would seem so," Staten said evenly. "You said the demon came at sunset. Well it's past that and your amulet isn't glowing. Something's obviously gone wrong. Perhaps it's your friend." He looked into Vicki's eyes. "We'll have to open a gate."

XxX

Three candles fall broken to the ground after being smashed against a stone wall. "Where is it?"

Parchment paper and a leather tome are wiped from the podium and sent flying. "Where _is_ it?"

He sighed through gritted teeth. He was letting his frustration get the better of him. Maybe that was the demon's plan: drive him insane by refusing to answer his call. He shook his head. That was impossible. He had its name. The ritual was properly enacted. It had no choice but to come.

Obviously, something was wrong.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** I don't know if I'm entirely satisfied with this chapter but here it is since I've got the next one ready to publish. What happens is a part of the overall storyline so I'm not trying for sensationalism. In other words: it's my first story so expect some bugs.

XxX

Alice's POV:

"Home Depot definitely, but a home _show_? Not a chance," Emmett clarified as he ran a hand through his dark curly hair.

Rosalie and Esme had gone to Seattle for the annual Home and Garden Show and wouldn't be back until Sunday. At least the weather would cooperate: cloudy with a chance of showers for the entire weekend. As long as they stick to their decision not to go shopping past seven-thirty tonight they would miss the rain.

"They're essentially the same, Em. Well, except for the essential oils and organic bath soap boutiques," Edward quipped. Emmett rolled his eyes.

Jasper turned away from the window. "If we're hunting at first light, gentlemen, we'd best be on our way."

Edward stood. "I'll grab Bella on the way by the cottage. Jake's over so he'll watch Nessie while we're gone." Here he paused. "What about Henry?"

"I think after five centuries the man can take care of himself for a few hours, Edward," admonished Emmett.

"I'll stay," I said lightly. Edward looked at me but said nothing. I don't know what it felt like to him when I tried to shadow my thoughts but from my perspective it's a perceived weight to my brow as I 'sink' any details I don't want him to know.

Jasper looked at me. "You sure? Em's right, you know."

"Oh I know," I said as I made my way past Edward to stand next to Jasper. "It's not so much for him as for Emmett's delivery that I'm staying."

"My module's here?" Emmett perked.

"Not until eight-fourteen, but we have an inquisitive delivery man who will take a good look around the property once his picks work the lock if no one's here," I smiled sweetly. "It gets a little difficult explaining to Chief Swan why we have a dead body in the closet," indicating Henry.

"I thought break and enter in Forks constituted a brick through a window," Emmett smirked as he put on his ball cap and started towards the door.

Jasper placed a hand on my cheek. "You seem tense," he whispered. "Are you sure—"

"I'm fine," I breathed as I stood on tip toes to give him a peck on the cheek. "Now all of you shoo before I blab out who gets the buck."

His eyes in mine, Jasper mouthed _I love you_.

I smiled what I hoped was the biggest smile in the world. "Go."

Like a shot Jasper was out the door, catching up with Emmett on the lawn.

"Alice—"

"Go Edward. I've got things here." He nodded once before leaving.

I knew what was about to happen: every vision I had led me to this moment, this final decision. My face felt stone as I made my way up the stairs towards Edward's old room. I was about to do something the others would consider extremely selfish. Stupid and selfish—yet I didn't feel sad or guilty. Moments of certainty were absolutely rare.

He was sitting on a recliner reading, a bottle of water at his side. To a human eye Henry appeared immobile but to me I could see all the nuances of life: a slight rise of the chest, an occasional eye blink. Bella had once thought Edward living marble. Henry was the finest of crystal.

"I still can't believe you drink water. Or your heart beats for that matter. Call yourself a vampire indeed," I said lightly.

Henry put down his book. "I'm a man of many talents. And to be fair, it only beats half the time."

I came into the room and sat in my usual spot on the couch. For every night save the first, Henry and I had chatted in this fashion. Nearly two weeks of questions and answers on both of our parts.

"What do you dream when you sleep?" I asked, my curiosity piqued.

"I don't. I don't feel any kind of sensation. It's a state of nothingness. Then the moment sun sets—"

"Up like a pop tart."

"Something like that," he smirked. "What about you?"

"We don't sleep; we're always ready and raring to go twenty-four seven."

"That's a lot of time on your hands," Henry replied.

"Ehh, you deal. I'm sure you've had many long nights over the centuries."

"When things are very good the years flow like sand through my fingers. Then there are other times when an overly superstitious peasant folk are out to get the 'nasty ol' vampire'. Going from castles and manor houses to living in crypts, you think I'm a bad stereotype for a vampire you should have seen me then."

"I _vant_ to suck your blood," I chuckled.

"Well, maybe not that bad," Henry smiled.

We sat in silence which for vampires is anything but. We live for the hunt and our senses are honed to record the slightest elevation in tension.

"I know that you're a vampire but you're so _unlike_ me," I began. "You're so—fragile."

His slightly elongated incisors flashed as he laughed heartily. "That's something I've never been told."

I smirked. "Well I mean compared to us. Carlisle tried almost every way imaginable to destroy his body and, well, he's still here. Our skin is virtually impregnable while yours—cool, but warm to me. You can be hurt." I indicated his hands.

"I heal extremely fast. It took me two days to recover from a rifle wound so hand bruises are an annoyance not an inconvenience. Besides," he said with a raised eyebrow, "if you want the biggest difference between us—I also age."

I involuntarily drew breath. "Really?"

"When I was changed I was seventeen years old, Edward's age, and I obviously don't look it now."

"No. I'd put you about mid twenties. Not bad for nearly five hundred years." I paused, thinking. "Does that mean you eventually grow old? Do you die?"

Henry shook his head. "I'm not sure. If vampire gossip rings true, after many centuries of life we tend to go insane. Can't handle, I don't know, what we are, how we live, not being able to see the sun. We get a longing for dawn and one day we embrace it."

"That's horrible," I gasped.

"Five centuries and haven't felt suicidal yet. I love life. Especially now."

We sat still as statues for nearly a minute before it became too much.

"Alice," he whispered. I rose and went to him as he stood. "You really shouldn't be here."

"I'm the psychic not you," I said evenly, "I know precisely where I should and shouldn't be."

Henry's eyes narrowed as he stepped close to me.

"I knew I'd be here, now, the moment I decided to rescue you in the woods," I soothed. Henry shivered as he felt my breath play across his throat. For a moment we stopped. Dark hazel eyes locked in an onyx stare.

I slammed into Henry's embrace, nearly knocking him over. He recovered, easing his stance to better respond to the moment. Lips locked tight the floor seemed to come up to meet us as we settled, my body on top of his. After a kiss lasting much longer than any mortal could hold breath we parted, a smile on my face.

"By the way, you're out," I said, equally impish in sentiment as he had been. Henry's eyes smoldered as he hungrily opened his mouth to receive another kiss.

XxX

They're all laughing, having competitive fun when all of a sudden Edward's brow furrowed ever so slightly before returning to its marble smoothness. If Bella wasn't always so aware of Edward's physical presence she might have missed his sign of displeasure. She quietly moved to his side as Emmett and Jasper jetted their way though the greenery in pursuit of a particularly virile stag.

"What's wrong?" Bella whispered. Edward gave a quick smile as he grasped her hand, squeezing tighter than usual.

_Alice,_ _what have you done?_

XxX

The stench of were-beasts was everywhere as it passed the cliff line towards a smattering of houses. At some point during its tracking of Chief Swan the smell of the dead-who-walk came to an abrupt halt as if there were a line in the forest which separated the two species. What this meant was of little consequence; it only wanted to go home. The spell which had transported it here had inexplicably bound its essence to the new world. Even without a mortal body it found itself unable to travel back to its own dimension unassisted.

It cocked its head to the side as a four-legged animal approached, barking and whining as another human male ran to catch up.

"Come here, boy!"

The animal circled it twice before returning to the human who ordered it away with a snap of his fingers.

"Sorry about that, Mister," he said.

It smiled and waved its hand. The human paused then ran off with the animal in tow.

As it resumed walking towards the building that housed the Chief and the human-yet-not it felt a sudden tear in the fabric of reality. Turning to the west, it expanded its senses to detect the open portal but could find nothing. It growled in frustration. Had the human mage opened a gate to find his faithful servant? Did it miss its only opportunity to get home? Minutes ticked by as it waited, unsure of what to do.

A second tear in reality restored the smile to its face. Someone was indeed opening portals. It left the village and headed back into the depths of the forest towards the source of these magical happenings. Back into the land of the dead-who-walk.

XxX

**Author's Note:** Hopefully I won't get too many rotten tomatoes tossed my way. Believe me there is a reason behind Alice's action and I hope you, like Edward, listen to her side before judging. Whether you and Edward will _like_ what she's got to say is another matter completely….


	8. Chapter 8

_Henry isn't dead_. The thought swirled in Vicki's brain like a leaf in a dust devil. She hadn't realized how much his 'death' had affected her until the knot in her gut loosened. It wasn't that she _loved_ Henry, she'd just felt…incomplete without him.

Staten was sitting in the wing back chair, pad of paper and pen in hand.

"Ok," he said. "The first thing we have to do is to try and contact Henry. If we don't hear from him we can assume that the demon has already, um, dealt with the problem." He cleared his throat. "I hope this isn't disturbing you too much."

_I've only dealt with demons, werewolves, mummies and, oh yeah, my lover is a vampire_. "I'm with you," Vicki grumbled.

"Ah yes, right, well in order to find Henry we need as many personal details as possible to act as a filter. Let's start with the basics. Full name?"

"Henry Fitzroy." _Bastard son of Henry VIII._

"Date of birth?"

"Don't know. July sometime." _Fifteen Nineteen_.

"Occupation?"

"Romance writer." _Duke of Richmond and Somerset, Lord President of the Council of the North, Earl of Nottingham._

"Family?"

"Dead," Vicki said firmly.

"Any pertinent details you can tell me?" Staten said while scribbling like mad on the pad.

Vicki took a second to think. What _did_ she know about Henry? As long as they'd known each other he hadn't exactly been forthcoming about his life. Except for the first night they'd met when he'd told her he was a vampire and how he'd come to be that way he'd said relatively little about his four hundred plus years. "He likes to write at night. He drinks bottled water. He's somewhere in his twenties and has an incredible sex drive. He's a strawberry blond, five foot six and extremely knowledgeable."

"All right, fair enough. Now the other thing we'll need is a piece of him to act as a foci. Something like hair from a brush will do. The more stuff you bring the better our chances at finding him. Now, as it's—" Staten checked his watch "—just past two a.m. we should convene for the night. Get back here a half-hour before twilight so we can set things up." Staten put his hand on the _Creaturas Noctis_. "I'll need to borrow this since it has the spells we'll need."

"I'm sure we won't forget who ultimately owns the book, right?" Vicki narrowed her eyes, glaring at him until he nervously looked away. "Half-hour before twilight. I'll bring the coffee."

XxX

It took several knocks before Staten opened the door. Vicki entered with a bag and two Tim Horton's coffees in a cup holder.

"I see you're got the uniform on," she said, indicating his black robe.

"It, uh, helps keep the wardrobe clean," he blushed in response.

After she put the coffee down on the wooden box Staten led her to a little foyer to the left of the living room where he opened a smaller than average wooden door. The steps beyond the first three were lost to the depths and Vicki hoped the light would be adequate enough or she'd have to pull out her flashlight. A sharp _click_ turned on a single light bulb at the bottom of the stairs. As she descended behind Staten she noticed a washer and dryer to the left and piles of junk beside the staircase. Apparently neatness wasn't a warlockian trait. Turning the corner, Staten wove his way through the assorted boxes and bags towards a back room which looked more like an entrance to a mine with its wooden supports. Realizing the potential trip hazard Vicki pulled out the flashlight from her purse and clicked it on. Staten looked at her.

"No night vision." Vicki tapped her glasses.

There was a giant pentagram painted on the floor and several candles placed at various points, their light casting jittery shadows as they felt the air current from Staten and Vicki's arrival in the room. She involuntarily shivered; the last time she'd seen a pentagram like this she was almost sacrificed to a demon lord. Careful to avoid stepping in the circle, Staten made his way to a wooden stand where the _Creaturas Noctis_ lay open.

"You have his belongings I take it?" he asked. Vicki held up the bag. "Take out his brush, pull out any loose hairs and give them to me. Be careful not to step in the circle."

Tucking the flashlight in the crook of her left arm she pulled out the brush and began running her fingers through the bristles. She extracted a modest clump of hair; she hoped it would be enough. _Figures Henry'd be the type to clean his hair brush_. She crossed to the book stand and waited while Staten nervously entered the pentagram with Henry's hair and a little scroll, placing both around a red candle in the star's centre. After stepping out he pulled out a piece of chalk and quickly filled in a small gap in the circle.

"And that is that," he said with a smirk. "Ok, stand to my left and turn off the flashlight. Now all I need is the amulet." Vicki took it from around her neck and passed it over.

"You're not going to get all 'now the power is mine to control the forces of darkness,' are you?" she growled.

Staten laughed. "The _Creaturas Noctis_ isn't that kind of book. Its main purpose is to banish demons; that it also summons them makes me think it's merely two sides of the same coin."

Standing in nearly pitch darkness, Vicki held her breath as she heard him nervously clear his voice. He moved two independently standing candle holders to either side of the book stand. He cleared his throat again.

What began as a hesitant stutter turned into a steady chant as Staten gained confidence. His tone modulated from near whispers to shouts, sounding to Vicki like a revivalist meeting for the damned.

It was too subtle to notice at first but the room started to brighten as Staten continued his litany. In particular, Vicki noticed that the flame from the central candle seemed to grow in size. The wax pouring down its sides from the intense heat shrunk the candle in mere minutes what would otherwise have taken hours. The solitary flame continued to grow. As Staten's shouts reached an orgasmic peak the candle's fire nearly scorched the ceiling. It began to pulse, flames rolling up its shaft until the candle wax exhausted itself. The base of the fire reached the floor, engulfing Henry's hair and the scroll. In a roar, a near fireball shot to the ceiling, hovered, then slowly descended. In its core Vicki could see a white light begin to grow until the fire was seemingly snuffed out by the new light. At once the light solidified into a naked human body which fell like a dead weight to the ground.

After all the noise and pyrotechnics the sound of heavy panting from the new arrival seemed anticlimactic. Staten giggled.

Vicki fumbled the flashlight as she attempted to turn it on with shaking hands. "Crap!"

"What? What?" Staten stuttered.

"Nothing. Found it. Can we open the circle?"

"Not until we know he's not possessed or deceased. Remember, the demon eats souls."

Vicki turned the beam of light from Staten's face to the body in the circle. From her perspective Henry seemed taller, stretched as he was on the floor. Face down, his skin almost glittered under the light, looking more like marble quartz than pale flesh; even his hair seemed more coppery than blond…. Vicki went cold.

"That's not him," she breathed.

At once Staten went hysterical. "What do you _mean_ that's not him? It _has_ to be him!"

Seeming to have woken from the noise, the man—_creature?_—began to move.

Eyes wide in horror, Staten could only stare as the _thing_ brought its hands to either side of its chest. Slowly raising its body, Vicki and Staten were greeted by a pair of onyx eyes. Looking like a young man, Vicki thought it? to be quite handsome in a Henry sort of way—well if Henry were younger and carved from marble. She held her breath as its eyes blinked twice under the light before focusing on her.

It was pissed. In a flash the man-thing was all snarls as it launched itself at Vicki. The only thing she could do was throw her arms over her head and wait for the end. Staten gave a blood-curling scream which cut short as a loud _thud_ sounded. Holding her breath for a second more Vicki realized that the end wasn't near and turned her flashlight on the creature. It slapped its palms against what seemed to be an invisible wall surrounding the circle. It looked confused.

Vicki walked closer to the circle's edge as Staten began flipping madly through the _Creaturas Noctis_.

"Don't go near it!" he cried. Vicki stopped in front of the creature.

"Don't look in its eyes!" Staten warned again, too late as she looked into its inky blackness.

"Damn thing's scared, stiff," Vicki said gently. "It has no idea where it is, how it got here or what we want." _Must be how Henry felt when he arrived God knows where._

At once the creature was still. "Henry?" it said.

Vicki looked to Staten. "What the hell?"

"Henry Fitzroy," the thing started again. "You know him?"

"Of course I know him. Who the hell are you?" Vicki growled.

"Don't answer him!" Staten shrieked as his fingers guided his eyes down a particular page.

The creature cocked its head. "Vicki?"

Staten spoke in a near shout: "_Vade ad astra praeter_!" The amulet flared.

"No!" Vicki yelled, hearing the creature whisper _'No'_ before vanishing in a fiery flash. "Christ! Bring him back! He knew Henry!"

"How could it know?" Staten stammered. "Maybe it reads minds."

"Maybe it blows bubbles out its ass. I don't give a crap, just get it back."

"We can't," Staten panted, trying to catch his breath as he looked at his watch. "Twilight's past. The next nexus time is dawn but the creature'll burn up if we call it then. 'Creature of the night' you know."

"We're in a basement," Vicki scowled.

"In traveling from wherever to here there's an in between space and in that space the house doesn't exist."

"So for an instant it would be outside."

"Think of painting a picture—you do the sky and the horizon before adding the house," Staten explained. He frowned. "Of course all of this is quite puzzling to me. We had Henry described in detail, collected hair samples and yet we didn't find him. I must have done something wrong."

"Maybe not," Vicki murmured. "Maybe there are a few details I failed to mention about Henry."

"Such as what, he's left-handed?"

"He's a vampire," Vicki said.

XxX

The thermometer in his study cracked, sending the mercurial spray skyward in a fountain of red. "What the hell?" he hissed as he darted for the wall safe that hid behind a copy of Monet's 'Starry Night'. The contents of the thermometer did not measure temperature but magical essence. Something had happened to unleash a flux of power. Something big.

From the safe he pulled out what looked like an old tiki doll, its diamond eyes emitting an amber hue. He frowned. Someone was trying to summon something from another dimension. Is this the person who has been blocking the demon?

"Or does it now beckon to another's call?" he raged.

He calmed himself as he thought. He had to determine if this summoning was related or mere coincidence. If this unknown sorcerer was undermining his summoning he had to put a stop to this. He needed to know a more powerful ritual to contact the demon. He had thought himself clever by assembling the scraps of information necessary to perform the ritual without any aid. Now was not the time for pride. Somewhere in his research he found mention of an old grimoire. He needed the book.


	9. Chapter 9

Alice POV:

I was never as scared as when Edward suddenly disappeared from my mind. The scanning of my family's possible futures is so constant it came as a complete shock when he vanished. To take Edward away was like amputating a limb. Thank goodness he was alone when it happened; if Bella had seen her husband spontaneously combust she'd of collapsed. Even three days later she still wouldn't leave him out of her sight as if her presence anchored him to this world.

Edward doesn't know quite what happened. He remembered feeling unexpectedly warm, then burst into flame and vanished before uttering a sound. He found himself naked in a pentagram with two humans on the outside. One had looked like a Hogworts alumni while the woman was dressed normally, flashlight in hand. As a vampire, Edward knew himself to be virtually invulnerable yet in the instant he found himself unable to escape the circle he was afraid. Based on his own existence and that of the Quileute werewolves he knew there were 'things most strange' in the world but never for a moment considered the possibility of black magic. He believed in heaven and hell; his complete and utter dread in finding himself God knew where made him rethink his idea that vampires lacked souls.

Then he heard Henry's name in the woman's thoughts. When he realized that she must be Vicki it was too late: he rematerialized back in our world.

While openly sympathetic, I knew Henry to be quietly pleased with the supernatural event: the opening of the gate meant Vicki hadn't given up on him. Edward's kidnapping fully solidified Henry's absence from my divinations so I knew he'd go home when the opportunity presented itself.

I pursed my lips. Edward's looking again. I tried to tell myself that it's my passing thought that's garnered his attention but I'd been aware of his unwanted stares at me for most of the evening. Jasper had caught my eye every once in a while, a raised eyebrow on his part asking if everything was ok to which I'd respond with the little smile he always liked.

"While I consider myself rather eclectic when it comes to books I'm loathe to admit my shelves are rather devoid of grimoires on magic and dimension-hopping," said Carlisle with a smirk. "Although after this event I'll have to correct this lapse in education."

"Where papers fail, megabytes shall prevail," Jasper quipped. "Maybe we should look some of this up on the 'net. It's amazing what's out there on the occult."

Carlisle and Emmett looked at him, dumfounded.

Jasper shrugged. "What? My girlfriend has visions, my brother reads minds, I'm an empath and I'm to have no curiosity in New Age mysticism?"

I smiled. _Girlfriend_. We'd been going steady since the 'fifties.

Henry and Carlisle got up from the couch and followed Jasper to the computer.

I froze; vision-time again. I saw myself in Carlisle's office pulling a thick leather-bound journal off the bottom right shelf to the left of his desk.

As soon as I turned to go upstairs I heard Edward murmur to Bella. I knew instantly that I wouldn't be alone in the office. Inhaling deeply as I mounted the stairs I braced myself for the impending conversation. As it stood, Edward had no idea what to say to me except for one question: _why?_ I hoped he would hear me out before deciding what to do.

Ghosting in silently behind me, Edward closed the door to Carlisle's office.

"Alice…." He began.

I turned towards him with a beaming smile. "'We have to talk.'"

Edward's face darkened. "This isn't funny."

"Of course it isn't," I said as I turned to get the envisioned book from the shelf. "I was just trying to break the ice so you could say what you needed to say."

"_Why?_" Edward asked through clenched teeth.

"Why not?" I answered sweetly.

He growled. "What do you mean, '_why not?' _ What the hell's wrong with you, Alice?"

I held the book in my arms as I walked to stand in front of Edward. He was angry but since I had the time to anticipate this reaction I found it lessened the impact.

"Edward," I began slowly, "This is all really quite simple. I saw Henry looking for me before he ever knew me and I came to him, just like I did with Jasper." Edward's jaw dropped. "Look, Rosalie needs Emmett for his strength and support. Bella and you are as close to a fairytale as one can get. Carlisle and Esme are two peas in a pod. I don't _need_ Jasper, I _want_ him."

"I don't understand. I thought you and Jasper were happy."

"We are," I smiled. "Silly Edward, you don't have to go on like this."

Edward gasped. "You mean it's no big deal—even to Jasper?"

"Well, I wouldn't recommend telling him," I said earnestly.

"So I'm to what, pretend none of this happened?" Edward spat, throwing his hands into the air as he turned to pace in front of me.

"Nothing happened that wasn't supposed to happen," I said softly.

He stopped and turned towards me. "Bull. People make choices, Alice. You chose this."

"No, I chose Henry, not the situation." Edward growled in frustration. "I don't know how to make you understand. With my abilities I'm constantly bombarded with alternate possibilities. Other lifetimes open before me and I follow their lead for miles down the road so to speak until another decision closes that world entirely. Even if someone makes the same decision he would have made before a moment's hesitation the future is still altered, though in minute ways.

"Sometimes I see something so picture perfect I want it to last forever. I didn't want Henry flashing in and out of here so soon." Edward looked questioningly at me. "He won't be coming back. I looked but there's just nothing. I could leave him as a footnote in my life or an entire chapter. I chose the latter."

"But at the expense of what, your life with Jasper, with us?"

"Only if you tell him," I warned.

"_Don't_ put this on me," Edward hissed

"I don't mean to Edward, but it is what it is."

"You make this sound so easy," Edward said bitterly.

"It _is_ easy for me. I don't want Jasper in pain," I said seriously.

Edward sighed. "This isn't as simple as that."

My eyes narrowed. "Yes it is. Decide his fate Edward. It's in your hands."

I sighed inwardly as he thought, the possibilities mulling through his head were so typically _Edward_ in their melodrama.

His thoughts vanished as I was struck by another vision. "Don't open the door," I whispered. A scream rang out from downstairs:

Rosalie.

Edward and I rushed down the stairs to see Emmett curled up on the floor by the entrance and a man, complete with hip waders and hat with hooks hanging from it, standing over him. Smiling.

In an instant Jasper rushed to engage the strange man, slamming him into the wall. I could hear the sickening crack of several bones but the man just looked at Jasper, hands beginning to glow.

"The demon!" Henry shouted. "Watch its hands!"

Turning towards the sound the demon's smile widened beyond normal human comfort as it saw Henry. Removing its head from the wall with a _smuck_ it knocked Jasper aside with a powerful swing of its arm and coiled itself to spring.

"Henry!" I screamed.

The demon leapt at Henry, who grabbed it by the wrists in order to avoid its hands. With strength belying its stature the creature pushed Henry to one knee.

Edward gave a yell as he jumped from the staircase onto the demon's back, biting its shoulder. Tasting human blood he went into a frenzy, tearing the demon to shreds as he scattered body parts around the room.

At once things transformed into that kind of quiet where loud noises cease and little sounds rise to the forefront: Edward and Henry breathing heavily, Emmett's groans with Rosalie at his side cooing '_it's ok_' more to herself than her husband. But what I heard loudest came from across the room: confusion and heartbreak.

Edward's head moved like a swivel to Jasper and then me.

"Jasper, it's not what you think," I whispered.

"I know it's not what I think, it's what I _feel_," he snarled. He looked from Edward and me to Henry. He trembled. I'd never seen him so angry or hurt. Jasper turned. He ran.

I sighed deeply, annoyed that my emotions had been so easily misconstrued. I had 'seen' Henry killed by the demon if he wasn't warned of its imminent attack. I looked down at a shame-faced Henry and smiled sympathetically. Was it his emotions that drove Jasper away? Edward's anger at Henry and me? I sighed again. While I could 'see' conscious decisions my visions offered me no insight when it came to raw emotions.

"To hell with him!" Edward roared; I knew his statement was angled towards my thoughts of Henry rather than Jasper's departure. I looked at Edward pleadingly. _If Henry had died Edward we were next_. He growled at me as he crossed the room to Carlisle, who was doing his best to comfort Emmett while assessing the damage.

Looking at my distraught family and our wrecked blood-stained home the damage seemed insurmountable.


	10. Chapter 10

Vicki wasn't surprised to see Celluci in her apartment although that meant she'd have to delay her need for a stiff drink. He seemed to think she'd fall apart after Henry's death. _Death? Damn it, I didn't tell him_.

"There's no need to babysit. Henry's not dead," Vicki said.

Celluci's jaw dropped. "What the hell do you mean 'not dead'? He's ashes, Vicki."

"Nope. Got them checked out. The ashes belong to the security guard. No sign of Henry."

His eyes narrowed. "'Checked out' how?"

She smirked. "Well believe it or not Toronto has a resident warlock living in the Annex."

Celluci snorted. "He's the real deal, Mike. We tried to get Henry back tonight but all we got was this red-headed demon who said he—"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, You _what?_" he yelled, face turning red. "Vicki, what the hell did you think you were doing?"

"The same thing Henry'd do for me," she roared back. "Or for you for that matter, so get the hell off my back."

At that both were silent. Seconds passed as glares eased into eyes of worry and tiredness.

"So," Vicki said, changing the subject as she plunked her purse on the coffee table and began taking off her jacket. "Any updates from work?"

"No more bodies if that's what you mean." Toronto wasn't exactly a hotspot for homicide. In just over seven months there'd been forty-seven murders while a similar-sized city like Chicago averaged killings in the six hundreds. When the Toronto police chief wanted advice about a spike in murders one summer to eighty three he was told by the New York commissioner to come back when he had a _real_ problem. "I thought your demon was on a body-a-night pace?"

"Change in plan," Vicki shrugged. "Staten—the magician—thinks Henry's disappearing somehow messed up the ritual. It's like they're stuck together."

"I know the feeling," Celluci muttered. Vicki rolled her eyes. The last thing she needed was to rehash old arguments about boundaries and Vicki being a grown woman who could make decisions for herself.

Celluci's eyes widened as he sat back in the couch. "Wait a minute, if Fitzroy and the demon are linked does that mean if we get one back the other comes along for the ride?"

Vicki knew where this was going before he could phrase the next sentence. "Getting Henry back is worth the risk. We'll deal with the demon later."

"After it kills again?" Celluci growled. Vicki stopped. He was right; she'd be condemning someone to death if she let the demon through, even for one night.

"There's got to be a way around this. I'll have to ask Staten about this tomorrow—before we summon the thing again," she promised Celluci.

"Damn Vicki, what am I going to do with you?" he said with a smirk.

She tried to raise an eyebrow, failed miserably and settled for a wry smile. "Staying the night?"

"Appears so," Celluci agreed.

"Guess I won't need that drink after all."

XxX

Henry's apartment looked like a cyclone had hit it. Whoever decided to search the place definitely wasn't subtle. Pictures were removed from the walls, couch and chair shunted aside, even the kitchen cupboards had been emptied; but it was the book shelf that saw the most activity as every book was piled on the floor. _Seems someone's looking for something in particular_. Vicki had a feeling which book was the reading material of interest.

As she reached for the phone to call Celluci she noticed the answering machine flashing. She clicked the button and was surprised to hear Creighten's voice:

"Mr. Fitzroy, this is Arthur Creighten at Triskelion Books. I was hoping I could discuss the sale of the _Creaturas Noctis_. I have a client who wants to make it worth your while should you choose to part with it. Please call me back at your convenience."

Vicki frowned. "Coincidence? I think not," she muttered under her breath as she picked up the phone.

Creighten answered after two rings. "Triskelion Books."

"Hello, Mr. Creighten, this is Vicki Nelson, Mr. Fitzroy's friend. I'm at the apartment and got your message about the book."

Vicki could hear the frown in his voice. "The offer was directed at Mr. Fitzroy so I'm not at liberty to discuss it."

"Oh, I quite understand," she said lightly, "It's just that Henry's—unavailable—at this time so I'm in charge of things until he gets back. Right now I'm just trying to ascertain whether this warrants an emergency call Henry's way."

"Well, I wouldn't call this an emergency per se, but I have a client who is quite eager to procure the _Creaturas Noctis_ if Mr. Fitzroy is interested in selling."

Vicki bit her lip. "I don't think he is at the moment but if he changes his mind I can always have him contact Mr. or Ms…."

"Contacting me will be all right, Ms. Nelson," Creighten said curtly.

_Oh well, had to try_. After saying her goodbye Vicki hung up the phone, already deep in thought. _Looks as though I'll have to do this the hard way_. She glanced around the apartment, eyes noting the mess. She'd do a neater job than this at Triskelion Books.

XxX

"Ok, this time we're more than prepared. Maybe over-prepared but too much is always better than too little in these cases," Staten said quietly. "I took the liberty of looking up Henry Fitzroy on the internet for more historical details. You are still claiming he is the bastard son of Henry VIII, right?"

"It's what he's always maintained and since his vampirism sure isn't faked I can't see why he'd lie about his ancestry," Vicki replied.

Staten narrowed his eyes as he read over a long paper scroll. "Now I have his birth listed as fifteen nineteen and death as July fifteen thirty six. Can I assume the cause of death was vampirism?" Vicki nodded. "Very well then, I'll add his date of death to his birth since I don't know if it's smarter to mark when he was born or born-again, so to speak."

He carefully printed on the scroll.

While Vicki waited for him to finish she took out several of Henry's belongings from a bag. Since his hair was gone the best she'd been able to come up with was his toothbrush and a couple of dirty shirts from his laundry hamper.

Staten looked up. "All right, just one more thing and we're done. I've done my best to gather as much information about him as possible but we need something personal. Something intimate he might have shared with you."

_He said he loved me_. "He told me about what really happened when he died. Instead of being interred in a crypt he was stuck in the ground in a peasant's grave for three days. It was probably the scariest thing he'd ever been through."

"No kidding," Staten gasped, then began writing on the scroll. When he finished he carefully rolled it up and tied it closed with a piece of red string. Vicki looked at him curiously. "The scroll focuses our search as much as the foci," he explained.

As soon as they made their way to the summoning room Vicki took her place to the left of the book stand. When Staten had finished placing the scroll, toothbrush and one of Henry's shirts around another red candle placed in the center of the pentagram he walked over to her, palm outstretched.

"The amulet?" he asked. She unstrung it from her neck and handed it over. After the demon-summoning disaster Vicki had taken the amulet back for safe keeping.

Knowing what to expect from the ritual didn't make it any easier as the near-darkness and anticipation of seeing Henry made Vicki's adrenalin flow. As the foci were consumed and the giant fireball made its way back to the ground the fire's expected change to a white light didn't occur. Once the flame touched the concrete floor it simply went out.

"What the hell happened _this_ time?" Vicki snarled as she clicked on her flashlight.

"I have no idea," Staten replied. "Either Henry's dead"—the glare from Vicki made him drop this line of thought in a hurry—"or else this is a lot more complex than I thought."

"Well can you do a little more thinking?" Vicki prompted as they went back into the living room. "Henry's life depends on it."

"I don't have the expertise." He bit his lip. "Maybe Trina would know." Vicki looked questioningly at him. "She's a friend of mine out in Vancouver. She's been doing this for a lot longer than I have and can maybe give me some advice as to what to do."

"Do what you have to but don't tell her Henry's a vampire," Vicki warned.

"I assure you she's discreet."

"It doesn't matter. The fewer who know the better so just humor me, alright? Oh, and since you won't need this for a while I'm taking it back," Vicki said as she picked up the _Creaturas Noctis_. Staten looked pained.

"But I might need it when I talk to Trina," he whined.

Vicki's tongue plucked the inside of her cheek as she thought. She handed the book back to Staten. "Be careful. Henry's place had been tossed. Someone's after the book and I don't want them coming here. You're Henry's only hope."

At this, Staten looked ashen. "Who do you think's after it?"

Vicki scowled. "Well someone had to summon the demon in the first place. Maybe they're wondering where their little pet is and need a technical manual for support."

XxX

Unbelievable. The _Creaturas Noctis_ was in town but it had been sold to another collector. Henry Fitzroy. Creighten was more than accommodating to give him the name, given the number of years they'd done business.

As his luck always put him a little too late it was a hope against hope he'd find the book at Henry's apartment but he had had to try. He smirked as he parked the SUV along the laneway. It was risky. Foolish. If he had been caught he would have surely been exposed. No, best to do this right. Calling out a Seeker would be a piece of cake after demon-summoning. It would find the _Creaturas Noctis_ and report back its location.

He opened the back of the vehicle and pulled out a black bag. Who would have thought eighteen years ago that he'd one day be calmly wielding the powers of darkness? He'd been a normal man, happily married and deep in love. Now he was capable of anything.

He smiled darkly as he gripped the cage handle with a gloved hand. "Nice kitty."


	11. Chapter 11

Henry POV:

I sat up, rubbing my eyes in order to clean the grit and memories nestled behind the lids. _What have I done?_ Silently I rose and got dressed. I opened the closet door and made my way to Edward's room. I could hear Rosalie and Esme fussing over Emmett downstairs so I thought I'd give them some space. After last night I was sure I was not their favorite company. I sighed inwardly as my hand grasped the door handle. Not even the grave offered me the solitude I craved.

Angling the recliner so it faced the window, I sat. It seemed to me the last time I acted so positively juvenile I _was_ but a child. As the king's bastard son I took for granted privileges offered to my station without thought. No, that's not right, privileges _demanded_ by my station and since I was who I was the consequences were few. Tony, a reliable feeding partner who had also become my friend once said I had several faces: Prince of Darkness, not-there writer and Prince of Men. It was this last that got me into trouble much more over the past year than my vampiric nature. Vicki had called me arrogant. I suppose I am.

My reverie was interrupted by a light knock at the door. In the window's reflection I saw the door open and Bella step into the room.

"Hi," she said politely.

"Hello Bella." I paused to gather strength. "I've made a mess of things," I added softly.

"A little," she agreed. "Edward told me what happened. We have no secrets."

I turned away from the window to face her. "Poor Jasper, finding his precognitive lady-love involved with a transdimensional Nightwalker. I couldn't have written this if I tried."

"Definitely not a typical romance novel, no."

"The point is, Bella, there shouldn't be a 'romance' at all. I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't _be_ here," I said, frowning.

"But you are and—"

"But _nothing_," I scowled. Silence permeated the room. I shook my head. "Forgive me I seem to be turning every encounter into poison. Four hundred and seventy one years and I act like a school boy. I've offended your hospitality."

"It's not entirely your fault," Bella corrected. "It takes two to tango and Alice deserves her share of the blame."

"I'm not saying it's anyone's fault. It just…happened." I ran my hand through my hair.

Bella pursed her lips. "Everything happens for a reason, Henry. Sometimes we don't like what those reasons are but they have to be respected." Here she narrowed her eyes. "Respected, however, does not mean they have to be followed through. You really screwed up, chum."

I nodded my head, accepting chastisement from a child. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one in need of an apology although I don't know if it would be in your best interest health-wise to do so," Bella smirked. "Jasper is—intense. He doesn't say a lot but Edward says his mind's a veritable storehouse for everything and anything. What's the line? 'Still waters run deep'. When it gets to be too much the first thing he does is remove himself from the scene in order to cool off and think."

"Lucky for me," I said evenly as I thought about how easily Edward had torn the demon limb from limb.

"Actually Edward suggested giving you a beat down would be a catharsis," Bella replied. "He volunteered to do so in Jasper's place. Don't worry he won't. There's been enough stupidity to go around."

"I sense I have you to thank for the intervention."

"I owed you one."

"'Owed'? For what?" I asked, puzzled.

Bella shook her head but couldn't remove the impish smile from her mouth. "Not important, Henry."

"Do all Cullen women speak cryptically or is it just you and Alice?" I said with a frown. I wracked my brain but could not come up with a single incident to which she could be alluding. She seemed to enjoy my puzzlement.

"Actually I'm pretty straight forward so listen up: the vampire bond is irrevocable and to mess with it is to risk your life," Bella said sternly. "I want you and me to be absolutely clear on this in case Alice is not. I can't explain her actions but you are fully accountable for your own."

I sighed as I rubbed the back of my neck. "Perhaps that's what's missing from my life—accountability." Bella looked at me questioningly. "Vicki and I have an interesting relationship. I love her, have said as much to her and she told me she loves me—after a fashion. It's not that she's cold, just terribly unable to commit. I suppose her ongoing affair with Celluci helps justify my nature. My hunger may be more frequent than Vicki's blood can provide but it is my preference to feed in a more intimate setting. I've never had to deal with jealousy on her part for my decision—strange since I cannot say the same in return," I smiled weakly.

Bella laughed. "No wonder you've gravitated to romance novels. You're a natural at this, Henry. You really are the tragic vampire. By tragic I mean Jane Austin –you're such a melodrama."

I winced, both at her laughter and insight. "Perhaps it's from my years of being alone. As I explained to Alice my kind are solitary creatures. Any kind of attraction we might have had for our sired children does not survive the change." At this, Bella shivered.

"I was afraid my love for Edward would be lessened when I became a vampire but if anything it has intensified," she said, eyes bright.

I nodded. "We are opposites, you and I: where you Cullens seek solace in each other from the outside world I am forced to combat my loneliness with mortal lovers and if I'm extremely fortunate, friends. You have no idea how lucky you are Bella to have surrounded yourself with beings who not only accept you but _are_ what you are." I shook my head, thinking of Alice. "Perhaps for one selfish moment I wanted to belong."

"Humans can only understand so much," Bella agreed.

"Every hundred years or so I get an urge to tell someone what I really am, just so someone else knows _I_ exist. _I_, Henry Fitzroy. _I_, vampire."

"Understandable," said Bella.

"Dangerous," I replied.

"Danger comes with the territory of being alive, Henry. We all need to feel alive. Look at my family: they immerse themselves in mortal activities so they can embrace the future so they can feel, well not human per se but _alive_. Routine is comfortable but it's also a killer. Edward was both lonely and bored out of his mind when he met me. When I figured out what he was I should have died or at least he should have run away."

Here Bella smiled. "He did, actually, but he came back. He says it was because he was angry he let a puny human push him around but that's not all of it. I was different. That he couldn't hear my thoughts and almost succumbed on several occasions to ripping my throat out because of my blood was both frustrating and exciting. I was dangerous to his hidden vampiric existence but necessary for him to _live_."

She walked over and put a hand on my shoulder. "You can't stay up here forever, Henry. The demon could come and you're the only one who knows anything about it. I've sent my daughter over to La Push but after seeing Emmett—well, I don't want the rest of my family killed."

"You're right," I said as I stood. "Don't worry, I've dealt with demons before." I smiled broadly, hoping to make Bella feel more at ease. _Successfully is another matter entirely_.

Before we were even half way down the stairs Rosalie hissed, "Get him out of here."

"Can't do that, Rose," Bella responded evenly. "He's the only one who knows how to deal with the demon."

Rosalie stood up from where she was sitting next to Emmett. "I don't give a crap about any demon. Let it take him for all I care!"

"Not now," Esme said softly. "Please no more fighting." Rosalie scowled at Esme but said nothing as she reached out to take Emmett's extended hand.

"If it was as simple as that, believe me Rosalie I would be gone. I've caused enough strife as there is without adding a rampaging demon to the mix," I said as a way of apology. "But the point of the matter is that I don't think it was me the demon was looking for, at least not specifically."

"It sure wasn't selling Avon," said Emmett, trying to ease the tension in the room. "I barely had a chance to let go of the doorknob before it gutted me." He patted his abdomen. As Emmett's body was 'petrified' for a lack of a better word his innards didn't slide out of his cavity when he was sliced by the demon's hand. It all held together much like a fish when it's cut from frozen. Carlisle had to inject venom into the wound so it would heal faster.

"Not that I mean to frighten you Bella," I said slowly, "believe me that is not my intent. But I think it was here for Edward."

"Oh God," Esme whispered, horrified.

"Why would you say that?" Bella asked coolly.

"I've been here how many weeks and no demon until Edward shifted between worlds. Since the demon's still here I imagine it is—was—just as 'stuck' as I am. It needs a way home and it thinks Edward is its ticket."

"'_Was_.' What do you mean by that?" Rosalie snapped.

"When its mortal body died it should have gone back to its home dimension. Again, the key word is _should_; it obviously didn't make it home since it's still in this world. We'll know for sure in about twenty four to forty eight hours as it'll have stolen another body by then" I shook my head. "Demonology isn't an exact science."

"Let me get this straight, we're to keep you here in case the demon comes back even though the chances are remote? Give me a break." Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Sounds more like an excuse to stay near Alice."

"Rose," Emmett began.

"Oh come off it. _Something _had to have happened to send Jasper out of here at warp speed," Rosalie said accusingly.

My jaw clenched as the room went awkwardly silent.

"Rosalie, I won't lose my husband," Bella said, her voice too cool to be anything but consciously controlled. "Until we're sure the demon's not coming back Henry stays. Once it's settled that Edward's safe he can go on his way." She turned towards me. "I'm sorry this sounds so callous but I have to protect my family and that includes Alice and Jasper."

Again I nodded. "I deserve nothing less. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to ensure your safety."

"So what do we have to do?" Emmett asked.

I crossed towards the computer. "Nothing more than heal on your part. As for me, I've got my fingers crossed that a certain _Creaturas Noctis_ exists in your world and I can find it." I held my breath as I entered 'Triskelion Books_'_ into the search engine and waited for the web page to load. There were enough parallels to this world that I hoped one further coincidence would occur—and there it was. I clicked on 'Buy' and sat back. _Finally_ something was working out. I selected Fed Ex overnight delivery then turned to face the others.

"I assume one of you has a VISA?" I asked.

XxX

**Author's Note: **Bella owes Henry for what? Well if I actually get my act together there's a prequel to this. If I don't get it together then chalk this up to Bella messing with Henry's head. (o:


	12. Chapter 12

"If I see another pentagram in my lifetime I'm going to scream to high heaven," Celluci growled over the phone.

"What's up, Mike?" Vicki asked as she made herself a cup of instant coffee. She'd been off to scout Triskelion Books during the afternoon as well as pick up some things at the grocery store so she had just gotten back.

"Got a call this morning. Some lady's dog got away from her and ran into an old garage in a laneway south of King Street. The place was a bloody mess: cat parts, weird writings, pentagram, you name it."

Vicki crunched on a piece of toast. "Sounds like a hell of a call for homicide. Why were you up to bat?"

"Because someone has a former partner turned private eye who investigates all things weird and wonderful. Christ. You know they're calling me 'Voodoo Cellu'?" Vicki could hear faint laughter. "Yeah, screw you, Dave," Celluci snapped before turning back to the receiver. "So, anyways, got any ideas?"

"Got me. Henry's the expert on this stuff."

"Well Henry isn't here so you're the next best thing."

Phone tucked between her shoulder and chin, Vicki washed the crumbs from her hands. "Sounds like some kind of satanic ritual done by a sick bastard. Best I can do."

"Yeah, thanks for nothing. Hey, you get anything on that _other_ case of yours?" Celluci asked.

_I should after I conduct a little B & E this evening_. "Got a lead I'm following up. I'll know more tomorrow."

"Fair enough. Oh, by the way, be careful."

"I always am," Vicki said calmly.

"I mean when you do something stupid later today or tomorrow. I'll give you a call later." He hung up.

Vicki tapped the receiver against her chin, gave a short laugh and put it back in the phone cradle. Being partners had made Celluci a veritable psychic when it came to her antics.

She sat down in the recliner and turned on the tv. She had some time to kill and CTV Newsnet would fit the bill quite nicely.

XxX

The alley way behind Triskelion Books was a nightmare of trip hazards and nausea-inducing smells. Since she didn't want to attract any undue attention by using a flashlight Vicki had to rely on her sense of touch as she followed along the wall. She winced as she accidently kicked a can, sending it rolling into the alley. _This was _so_ much easier with Henry_.

It was funny in a way. Henry Fitzroy: romance writer by night, crime fighter…later on in the night. He'd be dressed neatly in his leather trench coat and dress shoes, not a short hair out of place after vaulting over fences or wrenching open steel doors. Vicki scowled at herself. She hadn't realized until this moment how _dependent_ she'd become on Henry during her night escapades. This had to stop.

When she got to the back entrance she pulled out her picks and began to work on the lock tumblers. The one bright side of older buildings was that not every landlord thought to install state of the art locks. With the last _pop_, Vicki got up and after a pause pulled on the door. There wasn't a sound. _Must have a silent alarm. Got two to three minutes before the cops arrive_.

Pulling out her flashlight she was relieved to find that she was standing in the back office. She walked over to the desk and began rifling through the organized piles of paper. Finding nothing, Vicki opened the side drawer. _Bingo. Agenda_. She pulled out the leather ledger, thanking God Creighten hadn't gone high tech. Quickly flipping through the pages to yesterday's date she spotted 'Call Fitzroy' and hyphened next to it 'Whitlock said no offer refused'. Vicki put the ledger back in the drawer and made her way to the door. She didn't hear any sirens as of yet but she didn't want to push her luck.

Vicki sighed as she walked to Osgoode subway station. Like it or not she'd have to get a computer. She couldn't be running over to Henry's every time she needed to look up a name. At once her eyes lit up: she remembered passing by an internet café when she was looking for Nebula Books. Since she'd be in Staten's neck of the woods she could kill two birds with one stone. If she struck out online maybe he'd have heard of this 'Whitlock'.

Getting off at Spadina station Vicki made her way to the street and turned west. She crossed the street at Brunswick, walking past Staten's bookstore. It was too dark to see who was working tonight. Almost as if to emphasize her night blindness Vicki walked into the back of a college kid who'd stopped to answer his phone. She raised her hand in apology as she twisted her body to swing past. Stalking a potential demon-worshipper was nothing compared to maneuvering crowded sidewalks in the Annex on a Friday night. Vicki chuckled to herself as the café came into view. How could she forget a twenty-four hour business named 'Insomniac'?

After procuring a computer Vicki logged in and immediately went to Google. She typed in 'Whitlock' and got more hits than she could imagine: everything from the Whitlock Golf and Country Club to Dr. Emory Whitlock, nuclear physicist. Frowning, she typed in 'Whitlock + creaturas noctis' but the only hits were from scam sites which lock in on every search combination. She tried 'Whitlock + demon'. While scrolling through several hits for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and their All-American star player Nikita Whitlock Vicki's eyes stopped on a link to Chapters bookstore which displayed a book cover of 'The History of Demonology and Magic'. The link took her to a page where the contents of the book were discussed along with its price and availability. She pumped her fist in victory as she saw the author's name—Jasper Whitlock.

Narrowing her search to 'Jasper Whitlock' Vicki discovered that he was the author of several books on witchcraft and the occult. Another outdated link had him speaking at the Annex Lecture Series focusing on local authors last summer. Since he seemed to be the likely buyer of the _Creaturas Noctis_ Vicki thought it best to consult Staten on the matter. Maybe they met each other at the lecture?

Vicki slowed as she neared Staten's house. The lights weren't on which was odd given that the clerk at his bookstore said Staten was off tonight. She had assumed he'd be too consumed by the _Creaturas Noctis_ and his call to Trina to go out. She pushed her glasses up her nose as she stepped onto his porch. If she didn't know any better she'd swear his front door was open. She admonished herself for unconsciously reaching for her now absent service revolver. _Take the girl out of policing…._ She pushed opened the door with her fingers, the hinges making as much of a haunted house creaking noise as she'd expected. Opening her purse, she pulled out a flashlight and clicked it on. Its beam cut a line down the hallway as she stepped carefully into the landing. After a quick glance up the stairs she made her way into the living room and clicked on the light. Granted, if the sound of the door didn't alert anyone of Vicki's presence the sudden flood of light sure would but given blindness as the alternative meant no choice at all.

Sure that the main level was clear, Vicki decided that downstairs would be the best bet to look for Staten. Not only did it hold his magical lair but it also provided a quieter place to harm him should an intruder decide to do so. Turning on the light she walked the steep steps into the basement, making sure to scan around as much of the junk piles as possible. With her luck she'd get jumped by some guy hiding behind a stack of Mad magazines. Of course, she'd also have to make sure that none of the junk concealed a body.

Making her way to the entrance to the ritual room Vicki let her flashlight do the walking as its beam arced from left to right. At the midpoint of the room it stopped as it encountered a shoe.

"Christ, I don't believe this," Vicki muttered to herself as she entered the room, making sure to check the corners to ascertain she was the only one in there. Well, the only one _alive_. She walked over to Staten's crumpled form lying in the middle of the pentagram. It looked like he'd been covered with blood and feathers. Given her recent exposure to magic this looked like something out of a Late Night with Elvira film festival. She crouched beside Staten in order to get a better look. His neck was broken.

"Damn," she murmured to herself, then went cold. She quickly shone the light on the book stand. It was empty. "Damn, damn, damn!" Looking wildly around the room and seeing nothing she left to go search the rest of the house. A half hour later found her flumped on the couch, cell phone out to call Celluci. _He'll just love another pentagram_. Her fingers tapped on the wooden box as she dialed.

"Homicide. Celluci speaking."

"Mike, I need you over at Staten's place. He's dead."

Celluci paused. He'd heard Vicki upset before but never over a body. "What happened?"

"They killed Staten and took the book. Mike, how the hell am I going to get Henry back without the book?"


	13. Chapter 13

Henry POV:

According to the _Creaturas Noctis_ the banishing of the demon could take place without the Crowliet amulet. Unfortunately, I wasn't sure how to hold a rampaging demon in place while we opened the dimensional gate. I leaned back in the leather office chair and rubbed my temples as I closed my eyes. I'd spent nearly the entire night reading the text from cover to cover. Carlisle had been gracious enough to loan me his office for my studies. His nature inclined him to be _too_ gracious in my opinion as I doubt I would have been so accommodating were our fortunes reversed.

Seeming to possess Edward's hidden talent for mind reading Carlisle appeared at the door. "Can I come in?"

"Please, the company would be a welcome distraction," I sighed.

He sat in a brown leather chair that matched the classic design of the office. From what I'd seen of the house décor as dictated by Esme this room had to have been assembled according to Carlisle's taste. "May I?" he said, indicating the book.

"Be my guest. It's in Latin."

Carlisle chucked softly. "As a minister's son born in the sixteen forties I'm quite versed in the language."

"Sixteen forties. That puts you about contemporary with the book. Where were you born?"

"England. Before Cromwell," he replied as he flipped through the pages.

I nodded. "I seem to recall a rise in supernatural paranoia at the time as anti-Catholic sentiment swept through the country."

"This grimoire alone could have had you burned at the stake," he said with a smile.

"Oh believe me, I had many a fool try to do away with me at the time what with my being…Catholic," I smiled wryly. We both laughed.

Carlisle set the book on the desk then shifted in his chair as he loosely clasped his hands.

"Sometimes I'm truly taken aback at all that has transpired over the centuries. We've gone from pitchforks and torches to splitting the atom. I don't even want to get started on computers."

"The internet has been my savior. It's allowed me to interact with humans at times when discretion would have kept me otherwise indisposed. As much as the world has opened up the ability to fall through the cracks into obscurity has become less of a challenge," I replied.

"Which can be dangerous if left unchecked." Carlisle frowned. "I've heard stories of vampires who became so out of touch, so immobile that they literally turned to stone." His face softened. "That's why I'm so fortunate to have my 'children'. They keep me up to date. Somehow they've turned vampirism from a horrific tragedy into something quite 'hip'."

I smiled wistfully as I looked past Carlisle into the hall beyond. "My time with Maria, my creator, was quite remarkable in my human days. I was seventeen, a man although with enough youth to make me brash. I think it was this quality that sparked the attraction between us. I was so alive and she, mysterious. I'd never truly appreciated how coveted the human spirit is among our kind until I met Vicki. She keeps me engaged in the world and with my humanity. For as much as I am vampire I am firstly Henry Fitzroy." I paused. "Forgive my indulgence," I said sheepishly.

"No apologies necessary," Carlisle soothed. "I quite agree with the sentiment. I feel the reverence my children have for me because of my age. For all that they love me as Carlisle I am something of a relic," he chuckled. "I embody what was while I yearn to be what _is_. I am, not was, Carlisle Cullen." He looked at me. "Have you ever regretted being a vampire?"

I bit the side of my cheek as I thought. "Regret is such a hard word. Have there been moments when I wished I were human? Of course. But they're just moments. In my extended life I've met the most wondrous people and seen the truly remarkable unfold before my eyes. Things I had no right to see were I mortal. If taking a little blood means I get to experience the next millennium it's a small price to pay."

We stared at each other in silence, two ancient creatures in contemporary clothing surrounded by modern comforts. I could sense for all his age Carlisle was not as comfortable with being a vampire as I. Perhaps it stemmed from our mortal days: as a son of the Church he was meant to follow while I was born to lead. Vampirism had its advantages and it was in my nature to seize them.

"Have you any children?" Carlisle said calmly. My jaw clenched as I felt the atmosphere change.

I shook my head. "No. I've not felt the inclination to bring another over."

"I've five children, three by blood. But that doesn't mean my love for Alice and Jasper is any less," he said seriously.

"I understand your concern, Carlisle. Believe me there shall be no more transgressions."

His eyes bore into mine before he dropped his gaze. Sitting up in his chair Carlisle smiled like nothing distasteful had been discussed. "So, what's our plan of action as far as the demon is concerned?"

I grimaced. "Well, one of us has to break it to Esme that a giant pentagram will have to be painted on the floor. We need candles, long and paraffin free." Carlisle nodded. "Also we'll need some kind of chalk. When we lay down the pentagram we can't seal the circle until the demon is inside. I suggest chalk in case something goes wrong and we need to open the circle." I indicated the window with my head. "As it's about time for me to retire I'll leave you to gather what's necessary. I'll paint what's required tomorrow night."

"And if it should come at us during the day?" Carlisle asked worriedly.

"Tear it to shreds like Edward did. Be careful of its hands when they glow. From my experience it has been known to launch balls of demon fire," I warned as I stood up.

I needed to stretch before going to the closet to rest but didn't want to go downstairs. Things were still too uncomfortable in the house. Instead, I went to Edward's room.

Alice was sitting on the floor with her back to me in a graceful lotus position, waiting. Beautiful Alice with her infectious smile.

"Hi," she said.

"Hello," I replied as I closed the door. "It's been a long night and I'm afraid I'm nearly wiped."

I could hear the smile in her voice. "Don't worry, it's not like I demand a lot of brain power. It's your ears I need more than anything."

"Fair enough," I nodded as I crossed to sit in the recliner so I could face her.

Alice cocked her head to the side and looked sympathetic. "Poor Henry, you really are tired." Our eyes lingered until I looked away, grimacing as I did so. "Henry," she said lightly, "The last thing I want is for you to feel awkward. There's nothing to be embarrassed about."

"No, there isn't," I agreed. I looked down at my hands as I swallowed.

"Say it, Henry," she urged.

I looked Alice squarely in the face. "I don't love you," I said truthfully.

She positively beamed. "Oh, don't worry, I don't love you either."

I couldn't help but laugh. "You know, even if we had a thousand years I don't think I'd ever truly understand you. I know my relationship issues are a little askew but I still don't know why you kissed me like you did. You said I'm not going to be here long-term so why would you risk your relationship with Jasper?"

"It isn't at risk. I want Jasper. It's as simple as that."

"So that's why you make out with other men," I said with a smirk.

Alice smiled as she stretched. "Only when they're feeling sorry for themselves and wanting desperately to be loved and accepted. Not to say that I remedy everyone with a kiss. You needed something more direct."

"And what did you need?"

"I didn't need anything. I have what I want," she said plainly.

I frowned. "You're losing me."

"I never had you to lose in the first place." Here I laughed. "Seriously Henry I know you love Vicki and that's great really but you have to know by now that rules are made to be broken. Nothing's in stone. Blah, blah, blah." She grinned as I rolled my eyes. "Someday you're going to have to make a decision that's contrary to everything you believe to be true Henry Fitzroy and I want you to remember that nothing's impossible if you want it bad enough."

"Is this advice from Alice or Alice the mystic?" I smirked.

"Both. We're in complete agreement," she said simply.

"And Jasper?" I asked seriously.

She looked out the window as she spoke. "Things will work out although not the same as they used to be but that's ok. Since we met all those years ago Jasper and I have followed my vision where we stay together, no questions asked." Alice shook her head. "There's a reason why we take vows and not give them: it takes effort, a conscious will to lay claim to love rather than simply proclaim _I love you_. I was too complacent in my relationship with Jasper. Your arrival signaled a change—for all of us; it's scary but sometimes change is a good thing."

I looked at her fondly. "You're once in a lifetime, Alice." I sighed deeply. "I have to go."

Alice stretched lazily. "Nearly dawn," she agreed.

I paused. "There are not a lot of times I wish I could stay awake."

She smiled sadly. "Careful what you wish for."

I looked into her onyx eyes. "We're not going to meet like this again."

"No."

"Then if this all we have, I want every last second."

We gazed at each other as the morning glow got brighter and brighter, basking the room in a cover of gray that lightened with every passing minute.

"It's…time," I said sluggishly. I stiffly stretched my legs, using my left arm to prop me up in the chair as I did so. Alice immediately popped off the floor and in an instant was by my side, taking my weight against her small frame as I stood. Staggering movements propelled me out of the room towards the closet.

XxX

**Author's Note: **And Henry does rethink his staid idea of vampirism in _Blood Debt_ when he realizes that Vicki's becoming a vampire didn't automatically mean the end of their friendship.


	14. Chapter 14

Despite her best efforts to raise her own morale Vicki had to admit this was probably the crappiest she'd ever felt. Not only had she been unable to protect Staten from being killed but she'd also lost the _Creaturas Noctis_, the book of spells needed to get Henry home. Now she had to finish question and answer time with Celluci when all she wanted was to be left alone.

Celluci was in a foul mood when he marched up the basement steps into the living room.

"I didn't hear the scream to high heaven so I guess you've made peace with pentagrams," Vicki said calmly.

"Don't even start. What the hell was he doing down there? It looks right out of satanic rites one oh one."

"Pentagrams don't mean the devil, they're places of power," Vicki corrected. _You know you've seen enough whacked stuff when you know trivia like this_. "Staten was a mage, sorcerer, warlock, whatever you want to call him."

Celluci smiled grimly. "Well it looks like someone took all the fun out of ritualism. Staten's been served up like a plump turkey." The only thing was Staten really _did_ look like he was staged. Celluci had seen the demon lord at that kid Norman's apartment last year. Now _that_ had the markings of a real ritual. _Hell, even the cat massacre from this morning rings more true than this_. "Anything else missing besides the book?"

"Not that I noticed," Vicki mumbled as she absentmindedly rubbed the amulet between her thumb and forefinger.

Celluci flipped the cover of his notebook closed. "Vicki, go home. You look like crap. Get a shower and some rest and we'll go at this again tomorrow."

Vicki nodded as she stood. She felt too damn tired to put up an argument. Without another word she exited Staten's place and headed towards the subway station. Celluci _was_ right, she needed to get some rest so she could keep her wits—Vicki swore. _Whitlock_.

"Crap, crap, crap," she muttered to herself. She picked up her pace as best she could given the lighting conditions. Once at the station Vicki picked up the eastbound subway. She checked her watch. If the connections were as close to on time as the Toronto Transit Commission could be she should just make it to the late-night Chapters on Yonge. She shivered as she looked at the other passengers in the car. For some odd reason she had the feeling of being watched. She rubbed her eyes before getting off at the subway transfer station.

When Vicki got to the store she was greeted with a locked door. The lights were still on and shoppers were inside so she must have just missed the cut-off time for new customers entering the store. Not daunted, Vicki pounded on the glass door until she caught the attention of a clerk.

"Please," Vicki begged, "I have a project due tomorrow and I saw online that you have a copy of the book I need. Please, I'm desperate."

The clerk looked skeptical. Vicki looked to be in her early thirties, not the usual member of the last-minute essay crowd.

"Please. I'll owe you forever. Don't make me have to take the course over again."

Rolling her eyes as she unlocked the door the clerk made a grand gesture of entrance.

Vicki smiled. "Thanks so much. To make this quicker, can you show me where the occult section is?" The clerk raised an eyebrow but said nothing as she led Vicki to the appropriate area.

Book in hand Vicki made her way back to her apartment, putting her back to the door as she closed it. The feeling of being watched had resumed once she'd left the bookstore. With her heart slowed down to a more acceptable rhythm she stepped into the living room to see her furnishings all over the place. The apartment had been tossed.

"Terrific," Vicki sighed as she dropped the Chapters bag and flung her purse onto the couch. She stepped over the soup cans from the larder as she made her way to the kettle. While she waited for it to boil she swept a broken mug into the garbage and selected another one from the cupboard. Vicki looked around for the instant coffee, found it behind the toaster and proceeded to scoop out a tablespoon into the mug. Hoping against hope as she opened the fridge Vicki was pleasantly surprised to see that her milk had survived the invasion. She poured some into the mug before she put it back. With the kettle boiled and the water poured, she took her steaming mug into the living room and put it on the floor beside the couch.

"Let's have a look at you," she said as she grabbed the book bag. _For thirty-eight ninety-five plus tax the book better be worth it._ Vicki saw a myriad of pictures and diagrams from the medieval ages on up as she flipped through 'The History of Demonology and Magic'. As she fanned to the end of the book she saw that the back cover had a writer's biography complete with picture. Tall and lean with blond hair, Jasper Whitlock looked to be in his late thirties or early forties. The caption said that he held degrees in humanities and computer science and that he lived in Willowdale with his two dogs, _Blue_ and _Gray_.

"Must have a civil war fetish," Vicki mused as she took a sip of her coffee. Despite evidence to the contrary that this had indeed been a crappy day Vicki felt that her luck was improving. After amalgamation the city of Toronto had acquired several villages into its borders, including Willowdale. All she had to do was look up Whitlock's number—if she could find the telephone book in all the mess.

The sudden appearance of goose bumps on her flesh made Vicki stop. She again felt like she was being watched. Jumping up from the couch she went to her window and pulled back the curtain but only saw the apartment's reflected interior. Closing the curtains she shook her head as she walked into the kitchen. Perhaps after everything that's happened her nerves had finally snapped. _No!_ Vicki turned around to face the living room.

"I must be nuts," she muttered, although she had the sinking feeling she was far from insane. The amulet began to glow. "Damn it, not now!" In a panic she looked around the room but could see nothing even remotely paranormal. She wasn't just being watched, she could now _feel_ a presence in the room.

"_Transmitadastramdiabolique_," Vicki called. Nothing. The presence was still there. She licked her lips as she brought the only other spell she knew to mind. After the incident with Henry she'd made an attempt to listen to language nuances when someone spoke.

"_Vade ad astra praeter!_" Like a gust of fresh air her apartment felt cleansed from whatever it was that had trespassed. Vicki sighed as she leaned against the doorframe. _Christ, that was close_. She scowled as she looked at Whitlock's book, pissed that someone would dare invade _her_ apartment with magical voodoo.

Someone had gotten Vicki Nelson angry. That was a mistake.

XxX

A part of him wondered if things were getting out of control. Whitlock had never killed anyone before. He poured more rum into a glass. It was amazing what a man would do for love.

Under the threat of death Staten was more than forthcoming about his magical exploits over the past few nights. He wasn't responsible for banishing the demon nor was he trying to usurp control. Indeed the demon was almost inconsequential to the whole thing as it was a person Staten was looking for between worlds. Whitlock smiled grimly. That's when things got interesting.

Staten claimed that Henry Fitzroy, the same Fitzroy who owned the _Creaturas Noctis_, was banished in the same instance as the demon and that he was also a vampire—a creaturas noctis in his own right. 'Vicki' was the human responsible for expelling the demon although Staten said it had more to do with the amulet than any personal power on her part. The Crowliot amulet. At last Whitlock's luck had improved. The grimoire gave him the information necessary to enact a more powerful summoning spell but the amulet would virtually guarantee its success. And it was in this Vicki's possession.

He'd summoned another Seeker to find the amulet. It led him to Chinatown. Again he risked exposure by going to search her apartment. Again he came up empty-handed as Vicki had obviously taken the amulet with her. Desperate, Whitlock summoned a third Seeker to follow the amulet so there would be no further mistake. He winced. He'd have to write a check to the OSPCA for all the cats he'd used.

And now the Seeker had been destroyed. He was impressed. Having no magical training she proved more resourceful than he'd thought. She wouldn't catch him unprepared again. The cost of failure was too high.

He looked again at the picture of Alice. Alice with the laughing eyes and pixie grin.


	15. Chapter 15

Henry POV:

Esme was brave through the whole ordeal of getting the paint and candles but she'd had enough when I walked into the room, brush in hand. It was decided that the music area would be the best place for the pentagram. After wheeling out the piano and removing the other furnishings from the room it offered the greatest amount of space to maneuver around the circle. During the day Carlisle had picked up a small podium to hold the _Creaturas Noctis_.

"Bring back old memories?" I asked as I painted. It had taken hours to inscribe the minute detailing of the symbols around the circle.

Carlisle smiled as his hand casually rubbed the top of the book. "Well it's a far cry from a pulpit, even without considering the reading material. I just hope I can carry the sense of authority in my words."

"You'll be fine," I assured as I stood. "I need to see the book for a minute so I can get these last symbols down pat."

I stood by Carlisle, turning to the chapter on summoning circles. As I returned to the previous page I felt a hand on my arm.

"How can you be so _calm_ about this all? We're performing blasphemous rites, cohorting with demons," Carlisle asked incredulously.

"Well to be fair it's just one rite and the demon and I aren't on a first name basis." I turned to face him. "Believe me this wasn't easy for me. While I am a Catholic, I admit my faith was somewhat lapse during the early years of my vampiric life. It's rather difficult to avoid putting ourselves above human kind.

"The first time I'd encountered demonic forces I nearly went insane. To come face to face with something not just supernatural or evil but downright _satanic_ was something I was not prepared to do." I got down on my knees and selected a finer brush from the caddy. "It made me rethink not only who, but _what_ I was in the eyes of God."

"We are but God's creatures and can only do the best we can," Carlisle said with conviction. "I told Edward we have souls and that what we do matters, in principle if nothing else. He'd always seemed to doubt me. In fact"—here he sounded embarrassed—"The demon's appearance has put any doubts I'd had about God and eternal life to rest."

My brush moved in quick but decisive strokes as the symbols appeared one by one around the circle's edge. "I prayed for months," I said chuckling. "Prayed like my soul depended on it. For believe you me I have no doubt that God watches over us all. It was by His Grace that I survived the encounter." Left to our own thoughts, I finished the pentagram in silence.

"There," I sighed as I sat back on my feet with my hands on my thighs, "and that's that."

Carlisle came over to inspect my handiwork. "So what do these symbols mean, anyway?"

I shrugged. "From what I understand the circle is generic in nature. The _Creaturis Noctis_ does not contain specific demon names. It took a lot of research for the human to have called this demon in the first place." Rising to my feet I began gathering my paint supplies. "Of course, I've known a human to have snagged a demon by luck alone. His ritual had meant nothing; the power was in the name he accidently stumbled upon. That and the pentagram. The fool had at least gotten that right."

Carlisle took the can of paint as we stepped from the room and through the house to the porch outside. "So are these demons the same?"

"The mortal Norman's demon was in fact more than one although I doubt he could tell the difference. His word of power was not a name but a specific class of demon, servile in nature; the first to answer any wayward summons from the mortal world. They require specific commands to function—think 'devil in the details'—whereas our demon has a mind of its own."

Esme's voice rang throughout the house. "Oh. My. God."

"I sense our redecorating hasn't gone over very well. I'd better tend to my wife." Carlisle gave a quick smile. "If I can handle this situation our demon should pose little trouble."

XxX

Throughout the day everyone went about their activities in as normal a fashion as possible despite the underlying current of unease in the house. Bella and Edward had called Jacob so they could speak with Nessie. Jacob could sense that something was wrong but Bella was not forthcoming so he let the matter drop. When he hung up the phone he had an overwhelming desire to snuggle close and protect Nessie, although from what remained unclear.

Rosalie fussed over Emmett as he readied himself physically for the task ahead. Though his wound was healing he was far from his best and he knew his family was relying on his strength to get the demon into the circle.

Alice sat in Edward's room, trying to see what fate had in store.

Esme cleaned the foyer in an attempt to forget the sacrilege of God and décor in the music area as Carlisle read from the _Creaturas Noctis_ in his office. I had gone over the plan with all of them before I slept. When the demon came, and in my heart I felt it was a certainty, it was imperative that everyone be out of the pentagram as they forced the demon into the circle. I in turn would enter the pentagram and Rosalie would then seal the circle with the chalk. At this point Carlisle would speak the word of power and the demon—and hopefully myself—would be transported away.

It was a risky plan. Carlisle knew that the demon was returning for both Edward and I, and the thought of allowing his son to pose as bait did not sit well. However, as Edward would always remain a target so long as the demon thought him capable of hopping dimensions he had little choice.

Day turned to dusk then to night. I came down the stairs to six grave faces, the stress of waiting starting to take its toll. Alice sat stock-still on the recliner seemingly staring into space.

I gave what I hoped was a confident smile. "As they say, 'no news is good news'."

Minutes ticked by. After forty five minutes of disaster seemingly adverted the tension eased of its own accord. It would have been handy to have Jasper at this moment; I needed everyone to remain calm so they could do their appointed tasks without hesitation. As it was we already missed his presence as he was by far the best fighter amongst the Cullen clan.

Bella stood, her back to the window, and cleared her throat. "Henry, I realize your arrival has meant upheaval for my family,"—here Rosalie snorted—"but nonetheless I wish you the best."

"Thank you, Bella," I said courteously. "The circumstances are not great but I am all the richer for knowing you all."

"Some more than others," Rosalie muttered. Emmett shushed her.

"You don't know anything so just mind your own business," Alice seethed as she lithely moved to stand in front of Rosalie. "I've _never_ judged you for any of the countless decisions I see fluttering through your head day in and day out. You're no saint so get off your—"

At once the window behind Bella shattered.

"Bella!" Edward shouted as the demon, now looking like a wilderness hiker, seized Bella by the back of the neck and lifted her off the ground. At once Edward froze. He didn't want the demon to hurt her and after seeing Emmett lying prostrate at the door he knew it had the power to do so if not kill her outright.

The demon smiled as it spoke to Edward in a young man's voice. "Come here, boy."

Bella tried to croak out a _'No'_ before the demon tightened its grip. Edward shifted uncomfortably and growled, not taking his eyes off Bella.

Esme looked at me helplessly while I thought feverishly about our next move. If we tried to jump the demon Bella was as good as dead. Our only hope lay with Edward, if he could somehow overpower the demon once he was in its grasp….

"He's here!" Alice shouted joyfully.

With a snarl Jasper crashed into the back of the demon, sending all three to the ground. Edward immediately rushed to Bella and moved her out of the way of the ongoing struggle.

"Don't kill it!" I shouted to Jasper. Emmett got a meaty hand on the demon's leg and half-dragged half-tossed both it and Jasper towards the pentagram.

I braced myself to jump into the circle once the demon was inside. As the demon was giving these Cullen vampires with their near invulnerability a run for their money I knew I had little chance with it physically.

The demon rolled to its feet only to be knocked to the ground by Jasper. Again Emmett dragged the pair towards the circle. Alice and Esme stood on opposite sides of the pentagram to protect against any potential escape.

Rosalie's eyes narrowed as she tightly gripped the chalk. She'd have mere moments to connect the line once the demon and I were inside.

"Now!" Emmett roared and Jasper disengaged from the demon. With a final heave both men thrust it into the circle. As I entered the demon was up and half-way out the pentagram before running into Alice. With a strong shove she moved him back into the center but could not stop herself from being dragged with him.

"Done!" Rosalie cried as she sealed the circle.

Carlisle was horrorstruck as he realized Alice was trapped within the pentagram.

"Do it!" Alice shrieked as we struggled to contain the demon's glowing hands.

"NO!" shouted Jasper.

Carlisle spoke in a clear voice of authority. "_Transmitadastra—_"

Before he finished I felt as if I had been immersed in hellfire as my body seemed to spontaneously dissolve into nothingness….


	16. Chapter 16

It took Vicki a while to calm down so she hadn't gotten to sleep until well past four a.m.. She got up around noon and proceeded to clean her apartment with almost inhuman vigor, her anger still seething beneath a faux calm exterior. The object of her search, the telephone book, was found shoved between the radiator and the overturned bookshelf. Fortunately there were only two 'J. Whitlock' entries so it wouldn't be an all-evening job trying to track down a would-be murderous sorcerer.

She dialed a number and began to pace as the phone rang. An answering machine picked up, a woman's voice indicated that she wasn't home at the moment. Vicki hung up before the message 'beep' went off. Hopefully the other number was Jasper Whitlock. She'd have kittens if his number turned out to be unlisted. The phone rang eight times before a man answered.

"Hello, Ms. Nelson."

Vicki's eyes narrowed. "Hello Jasper. More magical jumbo on your part?"

"Call display."

"Oh." _Christ Vicki, keep it together_. "What do you want?"

Whitlock chuckled lightly. "I believe you called me."

_Damn, damn, damn_. "Let's start again, shall we? I obviously know who you are and what you've done. I'm calling the police."

He snorted. "To say what? 'Officer, arrest that man for being a witch?' Hardly. If you had proof of any other—transgressions—you would not be calling now." Vicki was silent. "Actually Ms. Nelson I do want something from you after all."

"Oh?" Vicki said bluntly.

"Your presence. And the amulet as well. You see I believe we can be of mutual benefit to each other as we have both misplaced something very dear to us. What do you say, for Henry's sake?"

Vicki growled under her breath. Staten must have told him about Henry, the amulet, everything before he died. She supposed she couldn't blame him for trying to save his own skin but right now this was proving to be damn inconvenient. She called; she'd set the dance in motion only to find the music changed. What pissed her off the most was the realization that Whitlock held all the cards. Even if she'd somehow convinced Celluci to arrest him for murder she'd be no closer to getting Henry back. Like it or not she needed a spell caster and Whitlock fit the bill. "Address and time."

"4558 Abercrombie Grove and about seven p.m. would be lovely. I look forward to your visit, Ms. Nelson."

Vicki bounced the phone off the coffee table after she'd hung up.

XxX

Jasper Whitlock was quietly reading in his study when he heard the doorbell. He took off his glasses and looked at the clock. It seemed Ms. Nelson was nothing if not punctual. He got up from the desk and proceeded to the door.

"Good evening, Ms. Nelson. Please, come in." Vicki glared as she walked past Whitlock into the hall. "I hope you'll join me in the study. I'm just finishing up with the _Creaturas Noctis_. Fascinating book."

"Yeah, I hear it's to die for. You didn't have to kill Staten, you know."

Whitlock opened the door and inclined for Vicki to enter. "Oh, but I did. I couldn't have him disrupting my plans any further."

"What's that, world domination? It's been done before," she snorted.

He laughed. "Nothing as dramatic as that. I hope to be reunited with someone."

Vicki looked at the bookshelves as Whitlock walked to his desk. Besides demonology and the occult the room held books on everything from Eastern philosophy and astrophysics to a whole section on the civil war. She was right about him being a war buff. The only truly personal effect in the room seemed to be a photograph which sat on an end table. Vicki picked up the frame and looked at a candid shot of a young woman with short spiky black hair and deep blue eyes. Her grin was infectious as she looked lovingly into the camera lens.

"She's lovely. Who is she?"

Whitlock stopped what he was doing and turned to Vicki. "My wife Alice." He noticed Vicki looking at his neck and he lightly rubbed the ring between his thumb and forefinger. "It'll be eighteen years this July. Eighteen long years." He reached for a green leather tome and tucked it under his arm. "Shall we?" he ushered to Vicki, indicating the door with his free hand.

Vicki snorted as she entered Whitlock's _sanctum sanctorum_; if she'd been impressed with Staten's set-up she now knew him to be little more than a warlock piker. Where his pentagram was a good paint job Whitlock's magical circle was inlayed into the floor. Candles aligned the stone walls and what looked like a marble pedestal stood at one end of the room with standing candelabras on either side. Everywhere Vicki looked she could see symbols and what she assumed was Latin script on the walls, ceiling and floor.

"So why are you summoning the demon, anyway? Think it can bring Alice back to life?" Vicki enquired.

"Information," Whitlock responded as he put the tome on the pedestal. "My research can only take me so far. The demon knows details on how to reach the dead."

Vicki scowled. "You must be a quick study given how fast you keep summoning the damn thing."

"Why would you say that?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

"You _do_ know that it's killed three people in as many nights, right? Well four if we count Alphonso's murder."

His mouth dropped. "Really?"

Face turning red, Vicki was almost beside herself. "You didn't _know_? You mean to tell me you're summoning the powers of God knows what and you don't have a damn clue what it's doing once it leaves your sight?"

Standing stock-still as he accepted her rebuke, Whitlock thought long and hard about his actions. The lives that had been lost. "It doesn't matter," he said finally.

"Sure Alice'd agree?" said a grim Vicki.

"Leave her out of this!"

The room carried the echo of Whitlock's anger, swirling the noise between its occupants as they glared at each other. A heartbeat. Two.

"Your Henry has proven to be quite the quandary. There are so many variables to be considered when a demon is bound to a vampire," Whitlock smiled icily. The cat was out of the bag. "Yes, Staten was quite adamant as to your friend's identity. Son of Henry VIII. Incredible."

"He's something all right." Vicki scowled.

Whitlock took a cloak off a wall hook and draped it over his shoulders. "Not withstanding the probable temporal and geographical distortion I had the further complication of not knowing whether to anchor Henry's human or vampire life to the summoning. Thankfully the book has put all that to rest. Now," he said in a friendly tone but with eyes ice cold, "if you excuse me I have to prepare. If you would be so kind as to hand me the amulet?"

Vicki bit the inside of her cheek. She didn't like it but she had no choice. After handing over the amulet she walked to the circle to have a better look at it. It was far more complicated than Staten's pentagram. Something told her that within its arcane symbols was something especially prepared to handle a royally pissed vampire. She looked for the gap in the circle. Her only chance to free Henry depended on her knowing where it was so she could break the link. She only hoped she could find it if things got dark.

Unlike Staten, Whitlock's voice was strong and clear as he began his call. Vicki shuddered inwardly as she felt the personal power he wielded as if he could open the dimensional gate by will alone. Word after word rolled off his tongue in quick precision, taking on the air of a chant. Occasionally Vicki thought she could hear Henry's name but she wasn't sure. She looked at the center of the pentagram as a thin wisp of smoke appeared out of nowhere. About now she wasn't sure of anything.

As the white smoke ascended into the air it emitted an occasional spark of flame as if something were burning although there was nothing flammable within the circle. Whitlock apparently didn't need any foci to anchor his spell which made Vicki wonder just how powerful he really was. The smoke thickened and expanded as the chanting continued until the entire circle faded from view. Seemingly encased behind glass the smoke began to swirl around the circle's edge but came no closer into the room.

Vicki almost jumped when Whitlock ceased talking. She looked at him to see what the matter was but he was smug as he confidently stared into the pentagram. Waiting. Turning to the circle, Vicki wasn't sure if she saw movement. Wait. There again. Definite movement. Her eyebrows raised in disbelief as the smoke dissipated. There before her were two of the most beautiful beings she'd ever seen. She gave a sigh of relief when she recognized Henry.

Whitlock staggered out from behind the podium. "Alice," he breathed. The woman looked at him, a perplexed smile crossing her lips as recognition took hold.

There was a sudden flash of fire and then the demon was standing behind the summoned pair in all its glory. Vicki was glad it'd been in human disguise when they'd met previously as its sheer size and utterly incomprehensible grossness now threatened her sanity.

"No!" Whitlock screamed as he rushed to open the circle. As soon as he erased the chalk line with his foot Henry leaped from the pentagram, trying to shield Vicki from the demon as he pushed her to the ground. The demon bypassed Alice and sought out the closest human target. With frightening speed it lifted Whitlock off the ground, crushing his spine as it bit into his neck.

"_Vade ad astra praeter_!" Vicki shouted as she struggled out of Henry's grasp. At once the amulet around Whitlock's neck began to glow—and the demon was no more.

"Where did you learn that?" Henry said in shock.

"Eat my crud Harry Potter." Vicki said with a smirk.

Alice made her way towards Whitlock.

"No! Alice, don't leave the circle," Henry warned. She stopped where she stood, pained at seeing Whitlock in such distress.

Henry raced across the floor and ran his hand in some of Whitlock's blood, using it to reseal the circle.

"Alice," Whitlock whispered feebly.

"Yes Jasper," she said warmly.

"Alice…I've looked…for you…I wanted…"

"I know."

Whitlock smiled and was still.

Vicki shook her head in disbelief. After combating demons and mummies, consorting with werewolves and screwing a vampire she'd been blown away with something as simple as the appearance of a dead woman who seemed very much alive. Well, she didn't know if _alive_ quite described Alice. She was animate to be sure but her body was too white, too smooth and perfect to be human. Vicki sighed. Only Henry could find a marble goddess during a transdimensional near-death experience.

"Hi, you must be Vicki," Alice said in a shimmery voice. "Henry's talked all about you. I feel like I know you already."

Henry flipped madly through the tome as he wiped his bloody hand on his bare thigh. It seemed that the dead warlock was quite knowledgeable in arcane lore but would he have the spell needed to send Alice home? "Given enough time I'm sure you would," he mumbled distractedly. Vicki expressed her confusion. "She's a psychic. She can see the future."

Alice twirled lightly on her heels hands clasped behind her back, seemingly oblivious to her nakedness.

"No kidding." Vicki smirked. "Got any winning lotto numbers you want to share?" Alice grinned as she looked at the ceiling. Vicki blushed. "Oh, ah, sorry about your husband," she said, suddenly embarrassed. "I suppose I should have said that off the bat."

Seeing nothing else to use Henry returned to the circle, rewriting the surrounding symbols in Whitlock's blood. "Not the right Alice. This one has a loving Jasper at home who's probably out of his mind at the moment." Again Henry wiped his hands on his body as he stood. "Vicki, pass me a candle." He tossed it lightly towards Alice. "Put that in the center. When the flame turns white, jump through."

"Henry," Alice said, stopping him in his tracks. "It is strength not weakness to admit you need help, especially when everything that matters is at stake." Her eyes flashed in Vicki's direction.

Henry nodded.

While not as spectacular as Whitlock though more expertly executed than Staten, Henry's portal spell did the trick. Alice seemed bemused by the whole thing as the candle's flame grew in size and when its light turned white she gave Vicki a pixie grin and disappeared into the flame.


	17. Chapter 17

Alice POV:

I don't know what I'd expected when I jumped through the portal but it definitely wasn't seeing Emmett and Edward holding a thrashing Jasper away from Carlisle. Esme was by her husband's side, arm across his chest to protect against further harm. As for Carlisle himself, he looked positively defeated.

As one they froze. My eyes lit up as I saw Jasper, trembling and out of breath as he stared wildly at me.

"Alice!" he half-sobbed.

Rosalie was instantly on her knees wiping the chalk from the circle. Jasper rushed to stand in front of me and I positively beamed as I opened my arms and took him into myself.

"It's all right, Jasper. Everything's going to be fine," I soothed.

After a few moments Emmett cleared his throat as he pulled his T-shirt over his head. "I think you need this more than me at the moment," he said gently. Only then did it register on Jasper's face that he was pressed between my naked breasts.

"And they say chivalry's dead," I said lightly as Jasper helped me into the shirt. "Now, you mind telling me what was going on before I arrived?"

"Jasper thought I'd sent you away when in actuality Henry and you had disappeared before I could finish the spell." Carlisle looked meaningfully at Jasper. "It was all a misunderstanding since I couldn't continue with you in the circle."

I could feel Jasper's arms tighten around my body, unwilling to let any distance separate us. As I gazed lovingly into his eyes I knew he would never ask what happened between Henry and me. He'd come to the same conclusion I had: it didn't matter.

The sun wouldn't stop shining if Jasper had left me the day the demon came. The seasons would still change, the moon sparkle if he had never stopped running. As for me, I wouldn't be pulling my hair out or gnashing my teeth in despair. I'd simply pack a bag and go after him.

Everyone makes such a big deal of 'need'. Edward _needs_ Bella. Carlisle _needs _Esme. No one ever gives any credence to _want_. I like want: it's fierce and primal. Want tells me what's important in my life.

I always said that I found Jasper before he even knew to look for me, but that's not how my visions work. I need decisions and scenarios and my not knowing him and his being completely unaware gave no opportunity to form either.

When I first woke up as a vampire I had no idea who I was much less where. For anyone else this could have been catastrophic but I don't let trivial things bother me. After all, I managed to find my way into the loving arms of my family without knowing my true identity. Instead, the first thing I asked myself was what I wanted now and Jasper came into mind. In an instant my vision showed me what I wanted before I knew it.

Knew him.

I smiled as Jasper brushed his hand along my arm. _I love you_, I mouthed.

He gently kissed my forehead in response.

My stoic Jasper.

XxX

Henry sighed as a familiar heartbeat made its way down the hall towards Vicki's apartment. Before the first knock he opened the door.

Celluci looked startled but quickly recovered, his eyebrows meeting in a frown. "Surprised you're here so late. Guess you're wasting no time."

"Have to strike while the guilt's the strongest," Henry smirked. "It's not every day your partner kills you."

Rolling his eyes as he walked past, Celluci made his way into the living room. His jaw clicked as he heard the sound of a shower turning off. It didn't take much of an imagination to figure out what had happened earlier in the evening.

Henry folded his arms in annoyance. He resented Celluci in times like this because the man _knew_ he only had the night with Vicki. Perhaps this was his way of playing dirty pool but Henry doubted he'd resort to something so petty.

"It was nice and quiet while you were away. Maybe you should look into some vacation time," Celluci said dryly.

_Then again…_ "Actually I've found these past five days quite restorative. Added weeks to my life, I think," Henry replied. After talking with Vicki he found out that the weeks he spent at the Cullen house translated into only a few days in his own world.

"Like you need it. So where'd you go, a blood spa?" Celluci spat.

Henry's eyes narrowed. "If you think things were all fun and games while I was away you are mistaken."

"Well aside from the tan you don't look any worse for wear. Matter of fact a little color does you wonders. Maybe all you needed was a little s—"

"Hey! Enough of this crap or I'm throwing the both of you out." Celluci and Henry turned to see a scowling Vicki wrapped in a bath towel, hair dripping wet. "I take it there's a reason for the social call, Celluci?"

He pushed a lock of hair away from his face. "Just letting you know we finished with the Whitlock house. Makes Staten look like he got his magical doo-dahs at Wal-mart. Anyways, we're chalking everything up to a 'satanic ritual gone bad' but I've got to explain why Whitlock looks like he'd gone ten rounds with a grizzly bear." Celluci eyed Henry. "The coroner's not going to find any humanesque bite marks on him, is he?"

"Certainly not," Henry snorted as he leaned back against the living room window. "I've never resorted to that amount of brutality."

"Never?" Celluci said suspiciously.

"I'd have to be severely—annoyed." Both men glared at each other.

Choosing to ignore the tone of the conversation, Vicki walked into the bedroom to get dressed. _The more things change…_ In spite of herself Vicki smiled. True, they pissed her off to no end when they got all uber possessive but in this instance it felt _good_ to hear the sounds of their voices in the other room.

Celluci's fire. Henry's ice. So far she'd kept a balance, precarious at times, but her strength of will made things work. It was amazing what she could do when she wanted something bad enough.

XxX

**Author's Note:** Thanks for reading my first attempt. I've had some fruitful comments which have helped the story along and provided thoughts for revisions at a later date. It's been interesting writing the two styles but it's off to the Blood Ties universe for my next endeavor. ~Lynn


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